title: Toxoplasma, or the discovery of a heterophage.
abstract: In mammalian cells, the protozoan pathogen Toxoplasma resides in a nonfusiogenic vacuole that segregates it from host cell resources. How the parasite acquires nutrients and whether it is capable of internalizing host macromolecules have been long-standing mysteries. By exploiting a mutant of Toxoplasma lacking the cathepsin protease L, Dou et al. observed the accumulation of host cytosolic-derived proteins in a multivesicular post-Golgi compartment, which establishes the existence of a functional heterophagic pathway in Toxoplasma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health and Malaria Research Institute, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA. Electronic address: icoppens@jhsph.edu.
authors.forename: Isabelle
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Coppens
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D056668:Cathepsin L / Q000235:genetics; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions / Q000502:physiology*; D009154:Mutation / Q000235:genetics; D011506:Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D014122:Toxoplasma / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D011506:Proteins; D056668:Cathepsin L
keywords: Toxoplasma; intracellular parasitism; macromolecule digestion; nutrient uptake; protease cathepsins