A recent highlight of Chahat’s work has been published in Trends in Parasitology, showcasing new insights into how Toxoplasma gondii interfaces with host cell organelles to support intracellular survival.
The article discusses recent studies by Chahat Mehra et al. and Romano et al., revealing that T. gondii actively connects its parasitophorous vacuole (PV) to the host endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Rather than disrupting vacuolar integrity, the parasite employs a secretory relay involving dense granule and rhoptry effectors to establish specialized membrane contact sites between the PV and the ER.
These contact sites allow T. gondii to access host-derived metabolites while maintaining the protective barrier of the parasitophorous vacuole — a strategy that highlights the parasite’s remarkable ability to remodel host cell architecture for its own benefit. This work advances our understanding of host–pathogen interactions and identifies new conceptual frameworks for studying metabolic exchange during intracellular infection.
We congratulate Chahat on this impactful contribution to the field and on having this work featured in Trends in Parasitology, a leading journal in parasitology research!
