BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//Talks.cam//talks.cam.ac.uk//
X-WR-CALNAME:Talks.cam
BEGIN:VEVENT
SUMMARY:Heavy metal parasite: The role of iron in Toxoplasma gondii - Dr C
 lare Harding. Sir Henry Dale Fellow (Parasitology)\, University of Glasgow
 . 
DTSTART:20211027T150000Z
DTEND:20211027T160000Z
UID:TALK163672@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Anna Protasio
DESCRIPTION:Iron is essential to living cells\, acting as a cofactor in a 
 number of essential enzymes in metabolism\; however\, proper storage of ir
 on is required or it can be dangerous to the cell. In both yeast and plant
 s\, iron is stored in a vacuole through the action of a vacuolar iron tran
 sporter (VIT). This transporter is conserved in the apicomplexan family of
  obligate intracellular parasites\, including in Toxoplasma gondii\, a pat
 hogen of medical and veterinary importance.\nI will discuss the role of VI
 T in T. gondii. We show that deletion of VIT causes a slight growth defect
  in vitro\, however leads to hypersensitivity in the presence of excess ir
 on\, confirming its essential role in iron detoxification in the parasite.
  In the absence of VIT\, parasites contain less iron and are at a growth d
 isadvantage when moving into an iron-depleted environment. We show parasit
 e VIT expression is regulated by environmental iron levels at both the tra
 nscript and protein level\, and by altering the distribution of VIT within
  the cell. In the absence of VIT\, we find that the T. gondii responds by 
 altering expression of genes with a role in iron metabolism. We also show 
 that iron detoxification has an important role both in parasite survival w
 ithin macrophages and in pathogenesis in a mouse model.\nWe go onto invest
 igate how the parasites respond to altered iron availability within the ce
 ll\, at both the transcript and protein levels and hypothesize about what 
 this means for metabolic flexibility of these parasites. Together\, reveal
  the importance of iron storage in the parasite and provide the first insi
 ght into the machinery involved.\n\nUse this "Zoom link":https://zoom.us/j
 /95026514738?pwd=aUtoam1zbDRYYWU0M1Nob2VPQXNvZz09 to see the talk remotely
 .\n\n
LOCATION:Marjory Stephenson Seminar Room\, Hopkins Building\, Dept of Bioc
 hemistry
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR