TY - JOUR
T1 - Toxoplasma gondii
T2 - The model apicomplexan
AU - Kim, Kami
AU - Weiss, Louis M.
N1 - Funding Information:
This review has its origins in a special session of the Seventh International Congress on Toxoplasmosis titled ‘T. gondii: Relevance to Other Systems’ sponsored by the Ellison Medical Foundation held in May 2003 in Tarrytown, NY. The work in our laboratories has been supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIAID) (KK, LMW) and the Burroughs Wellcome Fund (KK).
PY - 2004/3/9
Y1 - 2004/3/9
N2 - Toxoplasma gondii is an obligate intracellular protozoan parasite which is a significant human and veterinary pathogen. Other members of the phylum Apicomplexa are also important pathogens including Plasmodium species (i.e. malaria), Eimeria species, Neospora, Babesia, Theileria and Cryptosporidium. Unlike most of these organisms, T. gondii is readily amenable to genetic manipulation in the laboratory. Cell biology studies are more readily performed in T. gondii due to the high efficiency of transient and stable transfection, the availability of many cell markers, and the relative ease with which the parasite can be studied using advanced microscopic techniques. Thus, for many experimental questions, T. gondii remains the best model system to study the biology of the Apicomplexa. Our understanding of the mechanisms of drug resistance, the biology of the apicoplast, and the process of host cell invasion has been advanced by studies in T. gondii. Heterologous expression of apicomplexan proteins in T. gondii has frequently facilitated further characterisation of proteins that could not be easily studied. Recent studies of Apicomplexa have been complemented by genome sequencing projects that have facilitated discovery of surprising differences in cell biology and metabolism between Apicomplexa. While results in T. gondii will not always be applicable to other Apicomplexa, T. gondii remains an important model system for understanding the biology of apicomplexan parasites.
AB - Toxoplasma gondii is an obligate intracellular protozoan parasite which is a significant human and veterinary pathogen. Other members of the phylum Apicomplexa are also important pathogens including Plasmodium species (i.e. malaria), Eimeria species, Neospora, Babesia, Theileria and Cryptosporidium. Unlike most of these organisms, T. gondii is readily amenable to genetic manipulation in the laboratory. Cell biology studies are more readily performed in T. gondii due to the high efficiency of transient and stable transfection, the availability of many cell markers, and the relative ease with which the parasite can be studied using advanced microscopic techniques. Thus, for many experimental questions, T. gondii remains the best model system to study the biology of the Apicomplexa. Our understanding of the mechanisms of drug resistance, the biology of the apicoplast, and the process of host cell invasion has been advanced by studies in T. gondii. Heterologous expression of apicomplexan proteins in T. gondii has frequently facilitated further characterisation of proteins that could not be easily studied. Recent studies of Apicomplexa have been complemented by genome sequencing projects that have facilitated discovery of surprising differences in cell biology and metabolism between Apicomplexa. While results in T. gondii will not always be applicable to other Apicomplexa, T. gondii remains an important model system for understanding the biology of apicomplexan parasites.
KW - Apicomplexa
KW - Heterologous expression
KW - Invasion
KW - Model system
KW - Toxoplasma gondii
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U2 - 10.1016/j.ijpara.2003.12.009
DO - 10.1016/j.ijpara.2003.12.009
M3 - Review article
C2 - 15003501
AN - SCOPUS:1542285447
SN - 0020-7519
VL - 34
SP - 423
EP - 432
JO - International Journal for Parasitology
JF - International Journal for Parasitology
IS - 3
ER -