7 results for "Alexander D. Cook"

Molecular mechanism of complement inhibition by the trypanosome receptor ISG65

Alexander D Cook; Mark Carrington; Matthew K Higgins

eLife, Vol. 12 · 2024 · English · DOAJ

African trypanosomes replicate within infected mammals where they are exposed to the complement system. This system centres around complement C3, which is present in a soluble form in serum but becomes covalently deposited onto the surfaces of pathogens after proteolytic cleavage to C3b…

Cell surface localisation of GPI-anchored receptors in Trypanosoma brucei

Sourav Banerjee; Nicola Minshall; Alexander D Cook et al.

eLife, Vol. 14 · 2026 · English · DOAJ

Trypanosoma brucei, the causal agent of Human and Animal African trypanosomiasis proliferates in the extracellular milieu of mammals. It acquires host macromolecular nutrients by receptor-mediated endocytosis. The best characterised cell surface receptor is for transferrin (TfR), and it has been…

Author Correction: Mechanochemical tuning of a kinesin motor essential for malaria parasite transmission

Tianyang Liu; Fiona Shilliday; Alexander D. Cook et al.

Nature Communications, Vol. 14 No. 1 · 2023 · English · DOAJ Scopus

Mechanochemical tuning of a kinesin motor essential for malaria parasite transmission

Tianyang Liu; Fiona Shilliday; Alexander D. Cook et al.

Nature Communications, Vol. 13 No. 1 · 2022 · English · DOAJ Scopus

Plasmodium kinesin-8B is essential for male gamete formation and its absence blocks parasite transmission. Using cryo-EM and TIRF, the authors report how kinesin-8B motor domains are tuned to support microtubule motility and depolymerase activity.

Inhibiting parasite proliferation using a rationally designed anti‐tubulin agent

Natacha Gaillard; Ashwani Sharma; Izra Abbaali et al.

EMBO Molecular Medicine, Vol. 13 No. 11 · 2021 · English · DOAJ Scopus

Abstract Infectious diseases caused by apicomplexan parasites remain a global public health threat. The presence of multiple ligand‐binding sites in tubulin makes this protein an attractive target for anti‐parasite drug discovery. However, despite remarkable successes as anti‐cancer agents, the…

Structural determinants of microtubule minus end preference in CAMSAP CKK domains

Joseph Atherton; Yanzhang Luo; Shengqi Xiang et al.

Nature Communications, Vol. 10 No. 1 · 2019 · English · DOAJ Scopus

CKK domain containing CAMSAP/Patronins recognise and regulate microtubule (MT) minus end dynamics. Here the authors compare cryo-EM structures of MT-bound human CKK and Naegleria gruberi CKK which lacks minus-end binding preference, finding NgCKK has a different interaction with, and inability to…

Invariant surface glycoprotein 65 of Trypanosoma brucei is a complement C3 receptor

Olivia J. S. Macleod; Alexander D. Cook; Helena Webb et al.

Nature Communications, Vol. 13 No. 1 · 2022 · English · DOAJ Scopus

Trypanosomes evade the immune response through antigenic variation of a surface coat containing variant surface glycoproteins (VSG). They also express invariant surface glycoproteins (ISGs), which are less well understood. Here, Macleod et al. show that ISG65 of T. brucei is a receptor for…