-
Diseases
Themes / Divisions

About

Our lab aims to reveal fundamental molecular mechanisms underlying pathogenesis in the Apicomplexa – a collection of notorious human and animal parasites. Apicomplexan parasites are related based on similarities in their infection mechanism and include Plasmodium spp (malaria), Cryptosporidium spp (severe diarrhoea) and Toxoplasma gondii (toxoplasmosis).

We use a range of molecular and biochemical techniques to unveil essential processes that govern their behaviour and ability to thwart our body’s defences. Our aim is to find chinks in their armour to use for therapeutic advantage.

The lab has broad interests and currently focusses on the following questions:
* How do parasites sense their environment to regulate motility and invasion?
* How does latent Toxoplasma persist and cause brain dysfunction?

Publications

Selected publications from A/Prof Chris Tonkin

Liyanage KLDTD, Amery-Gale J, Uboldi AD, Adriaanse K, Firestone SM, Tonkin CJ, Jabbar A, Hufschmid J. Seroprevalence and risk factors for Toxoplasma gondii exposure in Australian feral and stray cats using an in-house modified agglutination test. Veterinary Parasitology. 2024;332:10.1016/j.vetpar.2024.110306

Baker TL, Wright DK, Uboldi AD, Tonkin CJ, Vo A, Wilson T, McDonald SJ, Mychasiuk R, Semple BD, Sun M, Shultz SR. A pre-existing Toxoplasma gondii infection exacerbates the pathophysiological response and extent of brain damage after traumatic brain injury in mice. Journal of Neuroinflammation. 2024;21(1):10.1186/s12974-024-03014-w

Seizova S, Ferrel A, Boothroyd J, Tonkin CJ. Toxoplasma protein export and effector function. Nature Microbiology. 2024;9(1):10.1038/s41564-023-01563-z

Wilde M-L, Ruparel U, Klemm T, Lee VV, Calleja DJ, Komander D, Tonkin CJ. Characterisation of the OTU domain deubiquitinase complement of Toxoplasma gondii. Life Science Alliance. 2023;6(6):10.26508/lsa.202201710

Dans MG, Piirainen H, Nguyen W, Khurana S, Mehra S, Razook Z, Geoghegan ND, Dawson AT, Das S, Schneider MP, Jonsdottir TK, Gabriela M, Gancheva MR, Tonkin CJ, Mollard V, Goodman CD, McFadden GI, Wilson DW, Rogers KL, Barry AE, Crabb BS, de Koning-Ward TF, Sleebs BE, Kursula I, Gilson PR. Sulfonylpiperazine compounds prevent Plasmodium falciparum invasion of red blood cells through interference with actin-1/profilin dynamics. PLOS Biology. 2023;21(4):10.1371/journal.pbio.3002066

John A, Bader SM, Soler NM, Wiradiputri K, Tichkule S, Smyth ST, Ralph SA, Jex AR, Scott NE, Tonkin CJ, Goddard-Borger ED. Conservation, abundance, glycosylation profile, and localization of the TSP protein family in Cryptosporidium parvum. Journal of Biological Chemistry. 2023;299(3):10.1016/j.jbc.2023.103006

Tsee Dawson A, Tonkin CJ. A CRISPR upgrade unlocks Toxoplasma gene function. Trends in Parasitology. 2022;38(10):10.1016/j.pt.2022.07.007

Jex AR, Tonkin CJ, Ralph SA. 3, 2, 1, go! Cryptosporidium counts down to sex. PLOS Biology. 2022;20(5):10.1371/journal.pbio.3001638

Seizova S, Ruparel U, Garnham AL, Bader SM, Uboldi AD, Coffey MJ, Whitehead LW, Rogers KL, Tonkin CJ. Transcriptional modification of host cells harboring Toxoplasma gondii bradyzoites prevents IFN gamma-mediated cell death. Cell Host & Microbe. 2022;30(2):10.1016/j.chom.2021.11.012

Baker TL, Uboldi AD, Tonkin CJ, Wright DK, Vo A, Wilson T, Mychasiuk R, McDonald SJ, Semple BD, Sun M, Shultz SR. Pre-existing Toxoplasma gondii infection increases susceptibility to pentylenetetrazol-induced seizures independent of traumatic brain injury in mice. Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience. 2022;15:10.3389/fnmol.2022.1079097

Interested in supporting our research?

Your support will help WEHI’s researchers make discoveries and find treatments to ensure healthier, longer lives for you and your loved ones.

Contact our friendly team to find out how you can help.