Host metabolism regulates growth and differentiation of Toxoplasma gondii.

ABSTRACT: A critical step in the pathogenesis of Toxoplasma gondii is conversion from the fast-replicating tachyzoite form experienced during acute infection to the slow-replicating bradyzoite form that establishes long-lived tissue cysts during chronic infection. Bradyzoite cyst development exhibits a clear tissue tropism in vivo, yet conditions of the host cell environment that influence this tropism remain unclear. Using an in vitro assay of bradyzoite conversion, we have found that cell types differ dramatically in the ability to facilitate differentiation of tachyzoites into bradyzoites. Characterization of cell types that were either resistant or permissive for conversion revealed that resistant cell lines release low molecular weight metabolites that could support tachyzoite growth under meta

SUBMITTER: Weilhammer DR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3458309 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature