Discovery Of Metabolic Pathway For Parasite Could Lead To New Controls For Diseases

ScienceDaily (Aug. 16, 2006) — Toxoplasma gondii is one nasty bug. A microscopic parasite, it lives in the intestinal tract of cats but can be carried by most warm-blooded animals. In humans, it can harm or even kill a developing fetus, and it can as well sicken those with compromised immune systems, such as AIDS patients.

This is the first robust genetic evidence that a specific chloroplast pathway is essential to the organism," said Striepen. Humans also have a fatty acid synthesis pathway, but because it is entirely different from the one uncovered in T. gondii, drug developers could turn off the pathway in the parasite without harming the one in humans. This makes the parasite's vital FAS pathway a perfect target.

Adapted from materials provided by University of Georgia.