Alexander Haindrich

Research Interests

My PhD study is focused on the functional characterization of the amino acid transporters of Trypanosoma brucei. The different demand for amino acids of T. brucei compared to its mammalian host makes amino acid transporters potential targets for new drug developments, but also due to their location on the cell surface the transporters themselves act as an possible entry point for drugs into the parasite, naming just two out of many reason to study these proteins.
For the biophysical characterization of the transporters we use heterologous model systems like Saccharomyces cerevisiae or Xenopus laevis oocytes, but we also investigate the direct function of the transporters in in vitro cultures of the bloodstream and procyclic stage of T. brucei.