Sphingolipids in Toxoplasma gondii; synthesis and scavenging

Toxoplasma gondii is a globally endemic parasite which can cause severe illness in animal livestock and humans. Currently there are no effective drug treatments which do not have severe side effects and therefore the search for new drugs is of significant importance. Sphingolipids have been shown to be essential in many different eukaryotic cell types through their roles in cell signaling and regulatory roles in cell transport. Serine palmitoyltransferase is the first rate limiting step in biosynthesis and the inhibition of this enzyme has proved lethal in many organisms. This enzyme is currently uncharacterized in T.gondii and other Apicomplexa. In this work the evolutionary origins, function and the cellular localization of this protein were investigated. Further to this, endocytosis assays were also performed on extracellular tachyzoites to investigate the potential of the parasite to scavenge complex sphingolipids.