Dr Clare Harding

Sir Henry Dale Fellow (Parasitology)

telephone: 0141 330 7779
email: Clare.Harding@glasgow.ac.uk

B612, Ri: Iii, Sir Graeme Davies Building, 120 University Place

Research interests

My work has focussed on the cell biology of the intracellular parasite Toxoplasma gondii. During my postdoc, I investigated the molecular mechanisms of how the parasite builds and maintains its remarkable, teardrop-like shape, with a focus on the transmembrane proteins of the periphery of T. gondii.

In my new group, my research will focus on how Toxoplasma acquires and uses iron from its host cells. Iron is an essential nutrient for almost all cell types, from bacteria to the cells that make up our bodies, however it can be difficult to acquire and is toxic in the wrong place. Toxoplasma is the ultimate generalist, it requires a host cell to replicate within, it can grow within any cell type from any warm blooded animal. This means during its lifecycle, the parasite must contend with both high and low iron concentrations and be able to rapidly adapt to its environment.

To decipher the mechanisms involved, we will seek to answer three key questions:

How does the parasite acquire iron from its host cell?
How does iron concentration regulate the expression of genes in the parasite?
Which proteins and pathways are required for the parasite to adapt to changes in the available iron concentration?

By utilising genome-wide CRISPR screens and unbiased proteomics, in combination with targeted genetic approaches, we will seek to understand the role iron plays in these parasites and more about how the parasite responds and adapts to its metabolic environment.

Publications

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Number of items: 13.

2023

Aghabi, D., Sloan, M. , Gill, G., Hartmann, E., Antipova, O., Dou, Z., Guerra, A. J., Carruthers, V. B. and Harding, C. R. (2023) The vacuolar iron transporter mediates iron detoxification in Toxoplasma gondii. Nature Communications, 14, 3659. (doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-39436-y) (PMID:37339985) (PMCID:PMC10281983)

2022

Quintana, J. F. , Harding, C. , Huet, D., Sateriale, A. and Bernabeu, M. (2022) Editorial: disruptive technologies for the study of host-pathogen interactions. Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology, 12, 1048342. (doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2022.1048342) (PMID:36310863) (PMCID:PMC9608136)

2021

Sloan, M. A. , Aghabi, D. and Harding, C. R. (2021) Orchestrating a heist: uptake and storage of metals by apicomplexan parasites. Microbiology, 167(12), 001114. (doi: 10.1099/mic.0.001114) (PMID:34898419) (PMCID:PMC7612242)

Mallo, N. et al. (2021) Depletion of a Toxoplasma porin leads to defects in mitochondrial morphology and contacts with the ER. Journal of Cell Science, 134(20), jcs255299. (doi: 10.1242/jcs.255299) (PMID:34523684) (PMCID:PMC8572010)

Harding, C. R. (2021) mSphere of influence: an army marching on its stomach-malaria parasites sense and subvert host nutrition. mSphere, 6(2), e00210-21. (doi: 10.1128/mSphere.00210-21) (PMID:33853872) (PMCID:PMC8546697)

Kloehn, J., Harding, C. R. and Soldati‐Favre, D. (2021) Supply and demand – heme synthesis, salvage and utilization by Apicomplexa. FEBS Journal, 288(2), pp. 382-404. (doi: 10.1111/febs.15445) (PMID:32530125)

2020

Harding, C. R. and Frischnknecht, F. (2020) The riveting cellular structures in Apicomplexan parasites. Trends in Parasitology, 36(12), pp. 979-991. (doi: 10.1016/j.pt.2020.09.001) (PMID:33011071)

Harding, C. R. (2020) Genetic screens reveal a central role for heme metabolism in artemisinin susceptibility. Nature Communications, 11, 4813. (doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-18624-0) (PMID:32968076) (PMCID:PMC7511413)

2019

Harding, C. R. , Gow, M., Kang, J. H., Shortt, E., Manalis, S. R., Meissner, M. and Lourido, S. (2019) Alveolar proteins stabilize cortical microtubules in Toxoplasma gondii. Nature Communications, 10, 401. (doi: 10.1038/s41467-019-08318-7) (PMID:30674885) (PMCID:PMC6344517)

2017

Periz, J. et al. (2017) Toxoplasma gondii F-actin forms an extensive filamentous network required for material exchange and parasite maturation. eLife, 6, e24119. (doi: 10.7554/eLife.24119) (PMID:28322189) (PMCID:PMC5375643)

2016

Harding, C. R. , Egarter, S., Gow, M., Jiménez-Ruiz, E. , Ferguson, D. J.P. and Meissner, M. (2016) Gliding associated proteins play essential roles during the formation of the inner membrane complex of toxoplasma gondii. PLoS Pathogens, 12(2), e1005403. (doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1005403) (PMID:26845335) (PMCID:PMC4742064)

2014

Harding, C. R. and Meissner, M. (2014) The inner membrane complex through development of Toxoplasma gondii and Plasmodium. Cellular Microbiology, 16(5), pp. 632-641. (doi: 10.1111/cmi.12285)

2012

Ali, H. Z., Harding, C. R. and Denny, P. W. (2012) Endocytosis and sphingolipid scavenging in Leishmania mexicana amastigotes. Biochemistry Research International, 2012, 691363. (doi: 10.1155/2012/691363) (PMID:21941657) (PMCID:PMC3177366)

This list was generated on Thu Apr 18 11:41:59 2024 BST.

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