Conceptos Básicos
Apical annuli in Toxoplasma are specialized sites for dense granule secretion, essential for parasite growth and proliferation.
Resumen
Abstract: Apicomplexans use secretory events to invade host cells. Micronemes and rhoptries mediate invasion, while dense granules drive host cell remodeling post-invasion.
Introduction: Apicomplexa parasites cause diseases like malaria and toxoplasmosis. The IMC limits material exchange across the plasma membrane.
Discovery of Apical Annuli: Integral membrane proteins at apical annular sites facilitate vesicle fusion and exocytosis of dense granules in Toxoplasma.
Role of Apical Annuli: Apical annuli provide essential functions for normal cell growth and are required for dense granule exocytosis.
SNARE Proteins at Apical Annuli: SNARE proteins at apical annuli sites implicate them as points for dense granule docking and exocytosis.
Implications: The physical separation of pre- and post-invasion secretion processes highlights the importance of apical annuli in host-parasite interactions.
Estadísticas
"Dense granules require these structures for the secretion of their cargo proteins."
"Depletion of all four proteins showed reduced plaque development."
"Depletion resulted in delayed parasite replication at 24 hours post invasion."
"All mutants showed an average lag of one to three division cycles behind the control."