ArticleNature microbiology2023
A positive feedback loop controls Toxoplasma chronic differentiation.
Article in Nature microbiology, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 33 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
33 citing papers in PubMed, 54 citations in OpenAlex.
- Article
- Asexual Development and Virulence Are Not Affected by Knockout of Five Sexual-Stage Candidate Genes inAnimals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2026Article
- Divergent SAGA complexes shape the Toxoplasma transcriptome for lytic cycle progression and host interaction.Nature communications · 2026Article
- PUF family RNA-binding proteins Puf1 and Puf2 promote transcript degradation in Toxoplasma gondii.The Journal of biological chemistry · 2026Article
- Host-cell dependent epigenetic profiles associated with survival outcomes in T. gondii infection.Epigenetics & chromatin · 2026Article
- Translational control of Toxoplasma gondii differentiation.Bioscience reports · 2026Review
- GID/CTLH E3 ligase complex control cell fate programs for sexual development of Plasmodium falciparum.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Article
- BFD2 mediates inflammation, apoptosis, and pre-anxiety-like behaviors induced by acute Toxoplasma gondii infection.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2025Article
- Toxoplasma gondii and the Brain: Frenemies? Or Just Outright Foes?Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society · 2025Review
- AP2X-8 Is Important for Tachyzoite Growth and Bradyzoite Differentiation ofAnimals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2025Article
- Immune targeting and host-protective effects of the latent stage of Toxoplasma gondii.Nature microbiology · 2025Article
- Article
- Molecular mechanisms of surface antigen suppression by ApiAP2 and its implications for vaccine development.Veterinary research · 2025Article
- Novel Drug Targets for the Bradyzoite Form ofResearch and reports in tropical medicine · 2025Review
- A bioinformatic approach for the prediction and functional classification of Toxoplasma gondii long non-coding RNAs.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Article
- SPARK regulates AGC kinases central to theeLife · 2024Article
- Article
- Translation initiation factor eIF1.2 promotes Toxoplasma stage conversion by regulating levels of key differentiation factors.Nature communications · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
11 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Successful infection strategies must balance pathogen amplification and persistence. In the obligate intracellular parasite Toxoplasma gondii this is accomplished through differentiation into dedicated cyst-forming chronic stages that avoid clearance by the host immune system. The transcription factor BFD1 is both necessary and sufficient for stage conversion; however, its regulation is not understood. In this study we examine five factors that are transcriptionally activated by BFD1. One of these is a cytosolic RNA-binding protein of the CCCH-type zinc-finger family, which we name bradyzoite formation deficient 2 (BFD2). Parasites lacking BFD2 fail to induce BFD1 and are consequently unable to fully differentiate in culture or in mice. BFD2 interacts with the BFD1 transcript under stress, and deletion of BFD2 reduces BFD1 protein levels but not messenger RNA abundance. The reciprocal effects on BFD2 transcription and BFD1 translation outline a positive feedback loop that enforces the chronic-stage gene-expression programme. Thus, our findings help explain how parasites both initiate and commit to chronic differentiation. This work provides new mechanistic insight into the regulation of T. gondii persistence, and can be exploited in the design of strategies to prevent and treat these key reservoirs of human infection.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.