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The laboratory of Dominique Soldati has been engaged in studies on molecular and cell biology of Toxoplasma gondii parasites for the last 7 years. The main objective has been to decipher the mechanism of gliding motility, host cell attachment and invasion via the identification and characterization of molecular motors, adhesins and proteases. An inducible system for T. gondi was developed in the group, providing an invaluable tool to study essential genes in this obligate intracellular parasite. The group has made major contributions including: the dissection of the motor essential to propel the apicomplexan parasites into the host cells, the identification of adhesin complexes providing an attractive mechanism to explain how soluble regulated secretory adhesins can contribute to invasion and the characterization of an essential protease activity during invasion and the identification of the apicomplexan protease involved. This previous experience of the Toxoplasma gondii system will be exploited to develop new reagents to study, in Plasmodium, biological processes that may be shared between the two organisms.
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