title: A new vesicular compartment in Encephalitozoon cuniculi.
abstract: The microsporidia are emerging human and veterinary pathogens known to infect every tissue type and organ system. Their infectious spore possesses a number of peculiar organelles, including the diagnostic polar tube. In a proteomics-driven effort to find novel components of this organelle in the human-pathogenic species Encephalitozoon cuniculi, we unexpectedly discovered a protein which localizes to punctate structures consistent with the appearance of relic mitochondria, or mitosomes. However, this novel protein did not colocalize with ferredoxin, a mitochondrial iron-sulfur cluster protein which shows a similar localization pattern by light microscopy. The distribution pattern of this protein thus suggests either a novel vesicular compartment that is similar to mitosomes in size and distribution, the presence of subdomains or branching architecture within mitosomes, or heterogeneity in the protein composition of E. cuniculi mitosomes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Division of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10461, USA.
authors.forename: Kaya
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ghosh
authors.forename: Edward
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Nieves
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Keeling
authors.forename: Ann
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cali
authors.forename: Louis M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Weiss
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000906:Antibodies / Q000276:immunology; D022162:Cytoplasmic Vesicles / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000276:immunology; D009670:Encephalitozoon cuniculi / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D021381:Protein Transport; D040901:Proteomics; D015800:Protozoan Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D016415:Sequence Alignment
chemical_list: D000906:Antibodies; D015800:Protozoan Proteins