Thomas Sladewski
University of Connecticut, CT·Biophysics
Toxoplasma gondii is a single-celled parasite that chronically infects about a third of the world's population. It causes toxoplasmosis, which can be life-threatening for people with weakened immune systems and for babies infected before birth.
- Fields
Biophysics
Microbiology & Immunology
Biochemistry
- Topics
Toxoplasma gondii
toxoplasmosis
apicomplexan parasites
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Jul 2027
What they work on
- Characterize the biophysical properties of MyoH, a Toxoplasma gondii myosin motor protein, and determine whether its force generation is required for extrusion of the conoid, the parasite's invasion organelle.
- Visualize in vitro how formin 1 nucleates, or starts, new T. gondii actin filaments, building on real-time imaging of single actin filaments.
- Reconstitute formin 1, MyoH, and actin together in vitro to directly observe how these proteins cooperate to drive conoid extrusion.
More about the research
Part of the parasite's success comes from a specialized structure at its front tip that helps it move and invade host cells. At the center of this tip is the conoid, a small organelle built from tubulin, the protein that forms cell scaffolding. The conoid pushes outward (extrudes) when the parasite moves. How that happens is unknown. It involves actin (filament-forming protein), a myosin motor called MyoH, and formin 1, a protein that starts new actin filaments.
Why it matters
Toxoplasmosis can be life-threatening for people with weakened immune systems and for infants infected before birth. The parasite depends on conoid extrusion to move and invade cells. Understanding how its actin, MyoH, and formin 1 generate force could identify these essential proteins as targets and guide the development of new anti-parasite drugs.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Ke Hu
Arizona State University Campus Immersion, AZ·Microbiology & Immunology
Determine how the cortical microtubule array, the rib-cage-like scaffold of Toxoplasma gondii, begins its pattern at the apical polar ring, using molecular genetics, microscopy and comparative proteomics.
Naomi Courtemanche
University of Minnesota, MN·Biochemistry
Determine the mechanism that lets formins, proteins that both start and lengthen actin filaments, adjust their polymerization activity across isoforms, using biophysical measurements.
Gregory Alushin
Rockefeller University, NY·Biophysics
Determine the structural mechanisms and cellular functions of catch bonds, protein contacts that strengthen under pulling force, in cytoskeletal crosslinking proteins and cell adhesion proteins implicated in force sensing.
The school
University of Connecticut: 31 labs on PI Pages, $434M a year on research, 360 research doctorates a year.
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