LAUSR.org creates dashboard-style pages of related content for over 1.5 million academic articles. Sign Up to like articles & get recommendations!

Importance of aspartyl protease 5 in the establishment of the intracellular niche during acute and chronic infection of Toxoplasma gondii

Photo from unslash

Virulence and persistence of the obligate intracellular parasite Toxoplasma gondii involve the secretion of effector proteins belonging to the family of dense granule proteins (GRAs) that act notably as modulators… Click to show full abstract

Virulence and persistence of the obligate intracellular parasite Toxoplasma gondii involve the secretion of effector proteins belonging to the family of dense granule proteins (GRAs) that act notably as modulators of the host defense mechanisms and participate in cyst wall formation. The subset of GRAs residing in the parasitophorous vacuole (PV) or exported into the host cell, undergo proteolytic cleavage in the Golgi upon the action of the aspartyl protease 5 (ASP5). In tachyzoites, ASP5 substrates play central roles in the morphology of the PV and the export of effectors across the translocon complex MYR1/2/3. Here, we used N‐terminal amine isotopic labeling of substrates to identify novel ASP5 cleavage products by comparing the N‐terminome of wild‐type and Δasp5 lines in tachyzoites and bradyzoites. Validated substrates reside within the PV or PVM in an ASP5‐dependent manner. Remarkably, Δasp5 bradyzoites are impaired in the formation of the cyst wall in vitro and exhibit a considerably reduced cyst burden in chronically infected animals. More specifically two‐photon serial tomography of infected mouse brains revealed a comparatively reduced number and size of the cysts throughout the establishment of persistence in the absence of ASP5.

Keywords: toxoplasma gondii; aspartyl protease

Journal Title: Molecular Microbiology
Year Published: 2022

Link to full text (if available)


Share on Social Media:                               Sign Up to like & get
recommendations!

Related content

More Information              News              Social Media              Video              Recommended



                Click one of the above tabs to view related content.