An interrogation of the Toxoplasma gondii bradyzoite transition using experimental neuron culture methods

Toxoplasma gondii poses a unique public health threat due to its unique life cycle and global reach. Some estimates place the global infection rate at one in three. This work builds on findings about the relevance of genes Mic13 and Rop28 to the transition between acute and chronic infection. This has been conducted in tandem with efforts to optimize perpetual neuron culture methods utilizing a line of modified neural progenitors. While more work remains, these methods may hold the potential to radically change the research paradigm for both T. gondii and a raft of other neuron-tropic infections and diseases.