The role of redox biology in host-pathogen interactions: Macrophage and Toxoplasma gondii

Toxoplasma gondii is an obligate intracellular parasite that causes asymptomatic infection in nearly a third of the world’s population. In healthy hosts, the macrophages are responsible for limiting the parasite replication through phagocytosis. However, macrophages can also be infected and serve as a host for this parasite to replicate. Phagocytosis is a macrophage-driven process while infection is a pathogen-initiated event. The main objective of this thesis is to investigate the redox and pro-inflammatory responses in macrophages following these two routes of parasite entry. The results reveal huge differences in magnitude of the responses in both routes of parasite entry.