Scientific background
Apicomplexa are unicellular eukaryotic parasites responsible for major human diseases such as toxoplasmosis and malaria. The development of new therapeutic strategies relies on a deeper understanding of the molecular and metabolic pathways that sustain parasite survival and host cell invasion.
Project rationale and objectives
Rhoptries are specialized secretory organelles essential for host cell invasion and modulation. We have identified a histone lysine methyltransferase (HLMT) as a key epigenetic regulator of rhoptry gene expression.