Toxoplasma adhesion strategy for gliding motility

Combining tunable surface chemistry and micropatterning with flow force and super-resolution imaging, we showed that Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) parasites build only one apical anchoring contact with the substrate, over which they slide. Furthermore, we showed that glycosaminoglycan(GAG)–parasite interactions are sufficient to promote such force-productive contact and found that the apicobasal flow is set up independent of adhesin release and surface interactions. This study is on-going to understand the role of other interfacial parameters in the T. gondii motility, including surface density and lateral mobility of the GAG ligands (supported by ANR PRC "MiniToxoAd", IAB/DCM). The developed chemical and biological tools should enable further characterization of the T. gondii–substrate interface, including their invasion ability, and its comparison across different parasites.