title: [The glideosome, a unique machinery that assists the Apicomplexa in gliding into host cells].
abstract: Protozoan parasites belonging to the phylum Apicomplexa are of considerable medical and veterinary significance. These obligate intracellular parasites use a unique form of locomotion to traverse biological barriers and actively invade in and egress from host cells. An actin-myosin-based complex named "glideosome" drives this unusual substrate-dependent motility, which is essential for the establishment of the infection. The mechanisms involved in motility, invasion and egress are conserved throughout the phylum. This article describes the current knowledge on the invasion process of two experimentally tractable apicomplexan parasites: Toxoplasma gondii and Plasmodium falciparum.
authors.affiliation: Département de microbiologie et médecine moléculaire, faculté de médecine, université de Genève, centre médical universitaire, 1 rue Michel Servet, 1211 Genève, Suisse. karine.frenal@unige.ch
authors.forename: Karine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Frénal
authors.forename: Dominique
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Soldati-Favre
mesh_terms: D008841:Actin Cytoskeleton / Q000502:physiology; D000818:Animals; D016782:Apicomplexa / Q000502:physiology; D002477:Cells / Q000469:parasitology*; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions; D006801:Humans; D008124:Locomotion; D010963:Plasmodium falciparum / Q000502:physiology*; D014122:Toxoplasma / Q000502:physiology*