• Home
  • News
  • Research
  • Publications
  • People
    • Lab Photos
    • Alumni
    • About Alex
  • Contact
    • Join Us
  • Links
Paredez Lab

Alex receives first major grant and now we need to hire a postdoc.

1/26/2015

10 Comments

 
The future looks bright for the Paredez Lab.  My first R01 has been awarded (R01AI110708).  Many thanks to the Pathogenic Eukaryotes study section (PTHE) and The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID).  Now we need to find another postdoc to help with the project (description below)

Project Summary/Abstract
Giardiasis, the disease caused by the eukaryotic parasite Giardia lamblia, is the most common intestinal parasitic disease in the U.S. and a major cause of morbidity in children throughout the world; estimates indicate 280 million cases of Giardia annually. Newly emerging drug-resistant strains are proving difficult to treat, and the front-line treatment, metronidazole, has a high incidence of side effects. Therefore, there is a critical need for anti-Giardia drugs that target novel molecular pathways. Giardia belongs to one of the earliest diverging groups of eukaryotes and is therefore quite divergent from metazoans. Opportunities for developing targeted therapeutics exist within this divergent biology. This proposal explores the biology of Rho family GTPases in Giardia. These proteins act as molecular switches that control essential cellular processes. Giardia contains a single Rho family GTPase homolog, gRac, previously demonstrated to play a conserved role in regulating polarity, membrane trafficking, and the cytoskeleton, all of which are essential to viability and pathogenesis. Functional assays have demonstrated that gRac plays a role in cyst formation.  This process requires pulsed production, processing, and secretion of cyst wall protein (CWP) to make environmentally resistant cysts and is the only known regulated secretory pathway in Giardia. Rho GTPases are known to regulate ER-Golgi transport and secretory events in plants and animals. How CWP secretion is triggered in Giardia remains enigmatic, yet gRac is a likely candidate for regulating this process. Aim 1 of this proposal identifies the specific role of gRac in infectious cyst formation by following cyst wall markers through the secretory process. Also unknown is how gRac signaling is linked to downstream processes, previously unidentified downstream effectors (Giardia-specific or potentially ancient and undiscovered) are hypothesized to link gRac signaling to the cytoskeleton and membrane trafficking. Using affinity purification and mass spectroscopy, 199 putative gRac interactors were identified. Aim 2 proposes to validate four of these gRac interactors as downstream effectors of membrane trafficking and/or the cytoskeleton through microscopy and knockdown studies. Upstream of gRac is a set of six gRac modulators that act to activate or inhibit gRac signaling. Aim 3, proposes to determine their contribution to gRac signaling and identify specific biological roles for each modulator using a combination of depletion studies and assays to measure cell proliferation, parasite attachment, and the ability to form infectious cysts. The proposed experiments are expected to define the central role of gRac in Giardia biology and pave the way toward discovery of novel therapeutic targets. Furthermore, because the Giardia genome contains only a single Rho GTPase and a handful of upstream modulators, the system is highly tractable and may uncover fundamental biology that has been obscured by the more complex signaling systems found in model eukaryotes.    
10 Comments
Fort Myers commercial brokerage link
12/19/2016 08:52:13 pm

Any new updates about finding new a postdoc?

Btw, I am the blogger here at www.retailsolutionsadvisors.com and let us know what you think of our site. You can see our blog in the menu.

Reply
Veiled chameleon facts link
8/21/2017 08:58:04 pm

Having read this I thought it was very enlightening.

Reply
clinica de recuperação link
2/26/2021 01:53:25 pm


Obrigado por nos escrever. Agradecemos as informações úteis.

Reply
clinica de recuperação link
2/26/2021 02:01:54 pm



Thank you for taking the time to write to us Appreciate the useful info.<a href="https://www.ctsaudepremium.com.br/" > clinica de recuperação</a>

Reply
clínica de recuperação link
4/30/2021 11:02:00 am

A Clínica de Recuperação mantém dois modelos de unidade para o tratamento da dependência química. As unidades clínicas de internação contínua, para a primeira etapa da recuperação e as unidades clínicas ambulatoriais, para o atendimento psicossocial e assistência à família.

Reply
Wendy's menu link
8/17/2021 12:00:07 pm

My dad has always been extremely supportive in every decision I've made and much more interested in me picking what I wanted to do.

Reply
Click here link
1/28/2022 02:52:02 am

his book blew me away. First, I have to say I really steer clear of movies and books that paint drug use as fun (not talking about pot/marijuana). For some reason it just really turns my stomach. I don't judge the users morally but I just can't watch the downward spiral, the descent. So I really was reluctant to pick up this book.

Reply
Piromax link
5/11/2022 12:41:21 am

What a pity that I did not connect my work with medicine. And in childhood there was a great desire to enter a medical school. But life turned out differently. Thank you for your contribution to the knowledge of medicine.

Reply
Hatal Yadav link
9/23/2022 08:33:25 pm

https://activationmycards.info/walmart-money-card-activate-walmartmoneycard-register-www-walmart-com/

Reply
roomytre link
9/25/2022 07:58:41 pm

https://pricelisto.info/cineplex-ticket-prices/

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    June 2022
    August 2021
    July 2017
    November 2016
    August 2016
    July 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2012

    Categories

    All
    Lab

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
Photo used under Creative Commons from mcoughlin