Speaker: Fengrong Wang, assistant professor in the Iowa State University Department of Biomedical Sciences 

Title: Protein translation control in the parasite Toxoplasma gondii

Abstract: Protein synthesis is a fundamental process that enables cells to respond to changes in their environment and undergo developmental transitions. How translation is regulated during these transitions, however, remains poorly understood. My laboratory uses the intracellular parasite Toxoplasma gondii to investigate how cells control protein synthesis during development. T. gondii undergoes a striking developmental transition between rapidly replicating parasites and a slowly replicating chronic stage that persists within host tissues. This transition is triggered by environmental stress and requires extensive reprogramming of gene expression.

Our research seeks to understand how environmental signals are translated into changes in the protein synthesis machinery and how these changes influence parasite development. We combine genetic, biochemical, genomic, proteomic, and structural approaches to examine translation at multiple levels, from the composition and organization of the translation machinery to its interactions with mRNAs and its functional output. Our studies reveal that translation is dynamically remodeled during developmental transitions, rather than functioning as a static cellular process.

By studying how the translation machinery responds to environmental stress, we aim to uncover fundamental principles of translational regulation and understand how changes in protein synthesis contribute to developmental cell-fate decisions. These studies may also reveal new vulnerabilities in T. gondii that could ultimately inform strategies to interfere with chronic parasite infection.

Host: Dior Kelley, GDCB associate professor