Reassessing the mechanics of parasite motility and host-cell invasion
نویسندگان
چکیده
The capacity to migrate is fundamental to multicellular and single-celled life. Apicomplexan parasites, an ancient protozoan clade that includes malaria parasites (Plasmodium) and Toxoplasma, achieve remarkable speeds of directional cell movement. This rapidity is achieved via a divergent actomyosin motor system, housed within a narrow compartment that lies underneath the length of the parasite plasma membrane. How this motor functions at a mechanistic level during motility and host cell invasion is a matter of debate. Here, we integrate old and new insights toward refining the current model for the function of this motor with the aim of revitalizing interest in the mechanics of how these deadly pathogens move.
منابع مشابه
Reassessing the mechanics of parasite motility and host-cell invasion
507 The Rockefeller University Press $30.00 J. Cell Biol. Vol. 214 No. 5 507–515 www.jcb.org/cgi/doi/10.1083/jcb.201605100 Introduction The ancient phylum Apicomplexa includes many of the world’s preeminent pathogens (Woo et al., 2015), such as Plasmodium, the genus responsible for more than half a million malaria-related deaths each year (White et al., 2014), and Toxoplasma gondii, one of the ...
متن کاملParasites lacking the micronemal protein MIC2 are deficient in surface attachment and host cell egress, but remain virulent in vivo
Background: Micronemal proteins of the thrombospondin-related anonymous protein (TRAP) family are believed to play essential roles during gliding motility and host cell invasion by apicomplexan parasites, and currently represent major vaccine candidates against Plasmodium falciparum, the causative agent of malaria. However, recent evidence suggests that they play multiple and different roles th...
متن کاملIntracellular calcium stores in Toxoplasma gondii govern invasion of host cells.
Invasion of host cells by Toxoplasma gondii is accompanied by secretion of parasite proteins that occurs coincident with increases in intracellular calcium. The source of calcium mobilized by the parasite and the signals that promote calcium increase remain largely undefined. We demonstrate here that intracellular stores of calcium in the parasite were both necessary and sufficient to support m...
متن کاملThe Toxoplasma Acto-MyoA Motor Complex Is Important but Not Essential for Gliding Motility and Host Cell Invasion
Apicomplexan parasites are thought to actively invade the host cell by gliding motility. This movement is powered by the parasite's own actomyosin system, and depends on the regulated polymerisation and depolymerisation of actin to generate the force for gliding and host cell penetration. Recent studies demonstrated that Toxoplasma gondii can invade the host cell in the absence of several core ...
متن کاملThe mechanics of malaria parasite invasion of the human erythrocyte – towards a reassessment of the host cell contribution
Despite decades of research, we still know little about the mechanics of Plasmodium host cell invasion. Fundamentally, while the essential or non-essential nature of different parasite proteins is becoming clearer, their actual function and how each comes together to govern invasion are poorly understood. Furthermore, in recent years an emerging world view is shifting focus away from the parasi...
متن کاملذخیره در منابع من
با ذخیره ی این منبع در منابع من، دسترسی به آن را برای استفاده های بعدی آسان تر کنید
عنوان ژورنال:
دوره 214 شماره
صفحات -
تاریخ انتشار 2016