Official websites use .gov

A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS

A lock ( 🔒 ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Need Help

Connecting Mechanics and Molecules to Understand Cell and Tissue Invasion by Apicomplexan Parasites

Award Number: DP2AI192730
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY & INFECTIOUS DISEASES
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 09/21/2026
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 08/31/2031

Group Awards By:

View Award Description

Connecting Mechanics and Molecules to Understand Cell and Tissue Invasion by Apicomplexan Parasites - PROJECT SUMMARY Infectious disease caused by apicomplexan parasites claims the lives of half a million people every year, most of them children. The Apicomplexa are unicellular parasitic protists and include Plasmodium spp., responsible for over 200 million malaria cases each year, and Toxoplasma gondii, which infects 30-40% of the human population. To disseminate through the human body, apicomplexan parasites use cycles of extracellular gliding motility and invasion into host cells for intracellular replication. Successful host infection also involves parasite entry into the vasculature, which parasites use to reach secondary tissues. Both host cell invasion and blood vessel penetration are striking physical processes. In invasion, parasites form a circular junction with the host cell membrane and squeeze their way through, deforming the host cell. During blood vessel traversal, parasites must penetrate the vascular endothelium, a highly specialized barrier. A complete understanding of these critical mechanical processes requires the integration of mechanics and physical thinking. This project aims to elucidate the fundamental physical and molecular mechanisms of cell and tissue invasion by apicomplexan parasites, using Toxoplasma gondii infection of human cells and vasculature as a model system. The proposed work takes an innovative and interdisciplinary approach, combining state-of-the-art microscopy, mathematical modeling, and engineered biomimetic blood vessel platforms. At the cellular scale, the project will investigate how T. gondii’s unique actomyosin system organizes to generate directional force and drive invasion into host cells. Super-resolution live imaging and mathematical modeling will be used to elucidate the mechanism of actin ring formation during invasion and directly test competing hypotheses about the basis and location of force production. At the tissue scale, we know that apicomplexan parasites can directly penetrate endothelia to enter blood vessels, but we have little mechanistic understanding of how this occurs. To recapitulate physiological barrier function and junction mechanics but enable high-resolution imaging and precise experimental control, the proposed work will adapt engineered human microvessel platforms for imaging of infection. In combination with physical and molecular cell perturbations, these experiments will investigate how T. gondii navigates across vessel walls and how vessel mechanics and endothelial cell properties affect parasite traversal. The results of this study will establish unifying physical principles that underlie the movement of apicomplexan parasites into and across human cells and tissues. We anticipate that a detailed biophysical understanding of human infection by apicomplexan parasites will provide a foundation for the development of new interventional strategies. Further, the frameworks built for integrating mechanics, physical thinking, and novel tissue infection models will serve as a scaffold for the study of cell and tissue infection by other pathogens, opening up new avenues for integrated understanding in the context of a range of infectious diseases.


Issue Date FY	Funding FY	Legal Entity Name	Legal Entity Address	Legal Entity City	Legal Entity State	Legal Entity Zip Code	Legal Entity COUNTY	Legal Entity COUNTRY	Assistance Listing	Award Code	Budget Year	Action Date	Action Type	Action Amount

Issue Date FY: 2026 ( Subtotal = $480,000 )
2026	2026	UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO	9500 GILMAN DR	LA JOLLA	CA	92093	SAN DIEGO	USA	Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research	000	1	9/21/2026	NEW	$480,000
														Subtotal = $480,000

Grand Total All Awards = $480,000

Top

All Categories

About

Search

Reports

Data Submission

Award Information

Connecting Mechanics and Molecules to Understand Cell and Tissue Invasion by Apicomplexan Parasites

Award Number: DP2AI192730

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY & INFECTIOUS DISEASES

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 09/21/2026

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 08/31/2031

Federal Websites

Department of Health & Human Services

HHS Operating Divisions

HHS Staff Divisions

Download A Document Viewer