Prof. Dr. Simone Reber, Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology

Seminar Room 0.125, MPZPM, Kussmaulallee 2, 91054 Erlangen

Location Details

Abstract

The ability of the malaria parasite Plasmodium to adopt specialized shapes for each stage of its life cycle, to resist deformation, and to proliferate largely depends on its microtubule cytoskeleton, an interconnected network of tubulin polymers and regulatory proteins. While it is generally assumed that microtubules are essential for the structural integrity of Plasmodium, we lack a direct link between the mechanical properties of Plasmodium microtubules and how they contribute to the mechanics of the parasite as a physical entity. We use a combination of bottom-up and top-down approaches to understand how the mechanical and material properties of various Plasmodium stages emerge. Our aim is a comprehensive and quantitative picture of how Plasmodium uses an evolutionarily conserved luminal mechanism for the extraordinary stabilization of its microtubule cytoskeleton and how this contributes to the overall mechanics of the parasite to confer cellular form and function.