{"id":18319,"date":"2015-03-19T10:35:52","date_gmt":"2015-03-19T10:35:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/research\/researchers-discover-toxoplasma-gondiis-mechanism-of-infecting-brain-cells\/"},"modified":"2025-09-22T10:54:21","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T05:24:21","slug":"researchers-discover-toxoplasma-gondiis-mechanism-of-infecting-brain-cells","status":"publish","type":"research","link":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/researchers-discover-toxoplasma-gondiis-mechanism-of-infecting-brain-cells","title":{"rendered":"Researchers discover Toxoplasma gondii&#8217;s mechanism of infecting brain cells"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em>Toxoplasma gondii <\/em>\u2013 an intracellular, parasitic protozoan that causes the disease toxoplasmosis \u2013 has reportedly infected many humans. The parasite makes significant alteration in astrocytes (some of the brain&#8217;s most critical cells), which seemingly causes subtle behavioral changes in humans. Interestingly, these behavioral changes vary based on gender. Now a research team led by Dr. William Sullivan, professor of pharmacology and toxicology and of microbiology and immunology, IU School of Medicine, has identified the mechanism the parasite uses to modify brain cells termed as \u2018aceltylation.\u2019 Dr. Sullivan\u2019s team evaluated the proteins in astrocytes and found 529 sites on 324 proteins where compounds called acetyl groups got added, and created a map called an &#8220;acetylome.&#8221; The understanding of the acetylation process and the creation of acetylome will provide deeper insights into the parasite\u2019s behavior.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Read more in <a href=\"http:\/\/www.sciencedaily.com\/releases\/2015\/03\/150318153918.htm\"><em>Science Daily<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":33313,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false},"new_tags":[],"series":[],"subject":[2868],"class_list":["post-18319","research","type-research","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","subject-plant-and-animal-science"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Researchers discover Toxoplasma gondii&#039;s mechanism of infecting brain cells | Editage Insights<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Toxoplasma gondii \u2013 an intracellular, parasitic protozoan that causes the disease toxoplasmosis \u2013 has reportedly infected many humans. 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