A novel target against toxoplasma

Toxoplasma gondii infects roughly one third of the world’s population, typically asymptomatically but with severe consequences in immunocompromised individuals and during pregnancy. This study identifies TgDCT1, a previously uncharacterized transporter, as essential for parasite replication, morphology, and motility. TgDCT1 localizes to the inner membrane complex (IMC), a cytoskeletal structure critical for cell division and invasion. Loss of TgDCT1 disrupts IMC integrity, leading to defective daughter cell formation, abnormal parasite shape, and a complete failure of host cell invasion, effectively arresting the parasite life cycle. Mechanistically, TgDCT1 appears to regulate lipid homeostasis within the IMC, revealing an unexpected role for membrane transport in parasite cell biology. Because TgDCT1 is conserved across related apicomplexan parasites, it represents a promising therapeutic target. Notably, drugs that inhibit analogous transporters in humans phenocopy TgDCT1 loss, suggesting a potential strategy for developing antiparasitic treatments that block both replication and invasion.

Read the full article: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1013886

Funding: This work was funded by the Private Foundation of the Geneva University Hospitals (https://www.fondationhug.org/) and by the Swiss National Science Foundation (https://www.snf.ch/en).

Citation: Sanchez SG, Haase R, Dubois DJ, Héritier M, Humann R, Hulo N, et al. (2026) A Spinster-like Transporter at the Inner Membrane Complex is critical for Toxoplasma gondii cytokinesis, motility and invasion. PLoS Pathog 22(1): e1013886.

News