Select a year 2001 2002 2003    Select a researcher Ernesto Abel-Santos, Ph.D. Christopher F. Basler, Ph.D. Yasmine Belkaid, Ph.D. Keril J. Blight, Ph.D. Michael D. Burkart, Ph.D. Kirk W. Deitsch, Ph.D. Michael S. Diamond, M.D., Ph.D. Philip Ralph Dormitzer, M.D., Ph.D. David A. Fidock, Ph.D. Michael Gale Jr., Ph.D. Michael S. Glickman, M.D. Kristin M. Hager, Ph.D. Claudia Hase, Ph.D. Kent Hill, Ph.D. B. Joseph Hinnebusch, Ph.D. Marc Lipsitch, D.Phil. John D. McKinney, Ph.D. Eleftherios “Terry” Mylonakis, M.D., Ph.D. Karen M. Ottemann, Ph.D. Lalita Ramakrishnan, M.D., Ph.D. Pejman Rohani, Ph.D. Michael Jeffrey Root,, M.D., Ph.D. David S. Schneider, Ph.D. Anita Sil, M.D., Ph.D Joseph D. Smith, Ph.D. Ali A. Sultan, M.D., Ph.D. Jatin M. Vyas, M.D., Ph.D. Paula Watnick, M.D., Ph.D. Elizabeth Winzeler, Ph.D. Fitnat Yildiz, Ph.D. Select a project Genetic Determinants of Chloroquine Resistance in Plasmod...Analysis of membrane trafficking events in the regulation ...Antibiotic Resistance in Streptococcus pneumoniae: Transmi...Antigen Processing and Presentation in the Specialized Ent...Bacterial and Host Contributions to the Maintenance of the...Biosynthetic Inhibition of Small Molecule Virulence Factor...Characterization of the NS4B Protein in Hepatitis C VirusCoordinate regulation of M. tuberculosis cell envelope com...Dissecting malaria vector-pathogen interactions using a Dr...DNA Replication and var gene expression in Plasmodium falc...Emerging Viruses: Interferon-Antagonists and VirulenceEnvironmental factors that modulate biofilm formation dyna...Functional Analysis of the Plasmodium GenomeGenetic Analysis of TB Persistence: Identification of New ...Genome-wide Binding Analysis of the Plasmodium falciparum ...Helicobacter pylori: Proteins and Processes that Contribut...Identification of the Bioenergetics Sensor Affecting Virul...Latency, Reactivation and Immunity in Chronic Parasitic Di...Mechanism and Biology of Trypanosome cell motility: contri...Mechanisms of Hepatitis C Virus PersistenceMechanisms of Yersinia pestis transmission and pathogenicityMolecular Analysis of Detoxification of Nitric Oxide in Molecular Mechanisms of Plasmodium Sporozoite PathogenicityNovel Regulators of Biofilm Development by Vibrio choleraePeptide Modulators of Bacterial Cell DifferentiationStructure-based Approach to Rotavirus Vaccine Design and C...Targeting Viral Entry Using the 5-Helix Protein Design Str...The Ecology and Evolution of Disease InterferenceThe Immunology and Neurobiology of West Nile Encephalitis ...Use of the Caenorhabditis elegans model of fungal p... Select an institution Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University Children's Hospital, Boston Harvard School of Public Health Massachusetts General Hospital Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Mount Sinai School of Medicine National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, National Institutes of Health Oregon State University Rockefeller University Scripps Research Institute Seattle Biomedical Research Institute Stanford University School of Medicine Thomas Jefferson University Tufts University School of Medicine University of California - Los Angeles University of California - San Diego University of California - San Francisco University of California - Santa Cruz University of Cincinnati College of Medicine University of Georgia Research Foundation, Inc. University of Notre Dame University of Texas Southwest Medical Center University of Washington School of Medicine Washington University Washington University School of Medicine Weill Medical College of Cornell University

Kristin M. Hager, Ph.D. University of Notre Dame

My laboratory is interested in membrane trafficking mechanisms that ensure accurate targeting or "proof-reading" of essential parasite proteins. A Golgi receptor, TgERD2, was identified in my lab. TgERD2 is involved in retrieval of missorted proteins and its expression appears cell cycle regulated. This is important because the Golgi is one of the first structures to duplicate during cell division and identifies TgERD2 as a potent drug target for disrupting parasite division. Importantly, we observe Golgi collapse upon increasing TgERD2 expression and hence upregulation of retrograde trafficking. My studies show that uncoupling ER to Golgi trafficking by overexpression of TgERD2 results in disruption of membrane trafficking and impinge on organelle biogenesis and/or structural integrity. My project will determine the role of TgERD2 in "proof-reading" of proteins in T. gondii. First, we assess the role of certain amino acids in function, localization and protein-protein interactions by introducing point mutations into TgERD2-GFP. We then assess the targeting of proteins to specific organelles and overall organelle integrity. Secondly, we will determine if expression of the receptor is (or is not) cell cycle dependent. Thirdly, we will determine if TgERD2 is essential to cell viability by using antisense RNA approaches to modulate TgERD2 expression levels. 

While Toxoplasma is not a ‘tropical disease’, certain extrapolations can be made from this research to other members of its phyla which contains some of the most medically virulent parasitic protozoa (e.g. the causative agent of malaria). Toxoplasma is amenable to genetic manipulation (possessing no codon bias and high transfection efficiencies) and is readily cultured in-vitro. These features (and others) allow my lab the ability to do the types of cell biology experiments that are simply not feasible in other globally infectious protozoa where the Golgi apparatus is either not present or exists as a primitive collection of tubules.

Contact Dr. Hager.