Conservation of a gliding motility and cell invasion machinery in Apicomplexan parasites.
Most Apicomplexan parasites, including the human pathogens Plasmodium, Toxoplasma, and Cryptosporidium, actively invade host cells and display gliding motility, both actions powered by parasite microfilaments. In Plasmodium sporozoites, thrombospondin-related anonymous protein (TRAP), a member of a group of Apicomplexan transmembrane proteins that have common adhesion domains, is necessary for gliding motility and infection of the vertebrate host. Here, we provide genetic evidence that TRAP is directly involved in a capping process that drives both sporozoite gliding and cell invasion. We also demonstrate that TRAP-related proteins in other Apicomplexa fulfill the same function and that their cytoplasmic tails interact with homologous partners in the respective parasite. Therefore, a mechanism of surface redistribution of TRAP-related proteins driving gliding locomotion and cell invasion is conserved among Apicomplexan parasites.
Kappe
S
S
Department of Pathology, Kaplan Cancer Center, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York 10016, USA.
Bruderer
T
T
Gantt
S
S
Fujioka
H
H
Nussenzweig
V
V
Ménard
R
R
D000071443:12E7 Antigen; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D019943:Amino Acid Substitution / Q000235:genetics; D000818:Animals; D015703:Antigens, CD / Q000737:chemistry / Q000502:physiology; D016782:Apicomplexa / Q000472:pathogenicity* / Q000502:physiology*; D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D003593:Cytoplasm / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009068:Movement; D010455:Peptides / Q000378:metabolism; D010962:Plasmodium berghei / Q000472:pathogenicity / Q000502:physiology; D011528:Protozoan Infections / Q000378:metabolism / Q000469:parasitology*; D015800:Protozoan Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017384:Sequence Deletion; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D014122:Toxoplasma / Q000472:pathogenicity / Q000502:physiology
D000071443:12E7 Antigen; D015703:Antigens, CD; C061828:CD99 protein, human; D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules; D010455:Peptides; D015800:Protozoan Proteins; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; C069428:thrombospondin-related adhesive protein, protozoan