Understanding the Calcium signalling network in the malaria parasite

Calcium is a universal intracellular messenger and controls numerous cellular processes in all organisms. The versatility of calcium as a signalling molecule facilitates the control of diverse processes such as learning and memory, motility, secretion and fertilization. Frequently, calcium signalling is propagated by enzymes capable of phosphorylating (kinases) or dephosphorylating (phosphatases) proteins. In our group we examine the role of these enzymes in the malaria parasite’s biology.
The malaria parasite completes its complex life cycle in a mammalian host and a mosquito vector, where the asexual stages of the parasite cause disease and the sexual stages are required for transmitting to the mosquito. Our recent studies revealed a calcium regulated protein phosphatase was crucial for host cell infection and parasite transmission. Although we know this calcium regulated phosphatase and other enzymes are crucial for parasite virulence and transmission, the mechanisms are poorly understood. In this PhD project you will engage in innovative chemical-genetic and proteomic strategies to uncover Calcium regulated signalling enzymes required for host cell infection and parasite transmission and, in turn discover identities of their substrates and regulators. You will integrate the data generated and use bioinformatics approaches to construct and model signalling networks to gain better understanding of pathways essential for malaria parasite virulence and transmission. Ultimately this knowledge will not only allow us to identify novel anti-malarial targets but also design robust platforms for drug discovery.

Due to interdisciplinary nature of project, the research will be in collaboration with Dr. Nisha Philip and Dr. Alex Von Kriegsheim’s group at the Institute of Genetics and Molecular Medicine.