ArticlePLoS pathogens2024
N-acetylglucosamine supplementation fails to bypass the critical acetylation of glucosamine-6-phosphate required for Toxoplasma gondii replication and invasion.
Article in PLoS pathogens, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.
What it found
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed.
- O-GlcNAcylation: A molecular switch linking brain health to neurodegeneration.Neural regeneration research · 2026Article
- O-GlcNAcylation: A bridge for regulating the function of the "heart-kidney-bone axis".Biochemistry and biophysics reports · 2026Review
- Identification of an uncharacterized protein as a novel regulator ofJournal of virology · 2025Article
- Hexosamine biosynthesis disruption impairs GPI production and arrests Plasmodium falciparum growth at schizont stages.PLoS pathogens · 2025Article
- Dissecting apicoplast functions through continuous cultivation of Toxoplasma gondii devoid of the organelle.Nature communications · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
The cell surface of Toxoplasma gondii is rich in glycoconjugates which hold diverse and vital functions in the lytic cycle of this obligate intracellular parasite. Additionally, the cyst wall of bradyzoites, that shields the persistent form responsible for chronic infection from the immune system, is heavily glycosylated. Formation of glycoconjugates relies on activated sugar nucleotides, such as uridine diphosphate N-acetylglucosamine (UDP-GlcNAc). The glucosamine-phosphate-N-acetyltransferase (GNA1) generates N-acetylglucosamine-6-phosphate critical to produce UDP-GlcNAc. Here, we demonstrate that downregulation of T. gondii GNA1 results in a severe reduction of UDP-GlcNAc and a concomitant drop in glycosylphosphatidylinositols (GPIs), leading to impairment of the parasite's ability to invade and replicate in the host cell. Surprisingly, attempts to rescue this defect through exogenous GlcNAc supplementation fail to completely restore these vital functions. In depth metabolomic analyses elucidate diverse causes underlying the failed rescue: utilization of GlcNAc is inefficient under glucose-replete conditions and fails to restore UDP-GlcNAc levels in GNA1-depleted parasites. In contrast, GlcNAc-supplementation under glucose-deplete conditions fully restores UDP-GlcNAc levels but fails to rescue the defects associated with GNA1 depletion. Our results underscore the importance of glucosamine-6-phosphate acetylation in governing T. gondii replication and invasion and highlight the potential of the evolutionary divergent GNA1 in Apicomplexa as a target for the development of much-needed new therapeutic strategies.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.