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PP1 phosphatase controls both daughter cell formation and amylopectin levels in Toxoplasma gondii

Toxoplasma gondii is responsible for toxoplasmosis, a human disease with potentially fatal complications. The parasite can evade the immune system by hiding in the brain or muscles of its hosts.

Dr Mathieu Gissot's team is interested in the mechanisms controlling the parasite's ability to proliferate and differentiate into a latent form, which remains in the brain or muscles for prolonged periods. In a recent study, the researchers show that a protein controls, at least in part, the parasite's ability to proliferate and also to produce the energy reserves it needs to survive in the brain or muscles.  These results are published in PLoS Biology. This work could lead to strategies aimed at eliminating latent forms of the parasite, for which no treatment is currently available.

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