TgMORN2, a MORN Family Protein Involved in the Regulation of Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress in <i>Toxoplasma gondii</i>
MORN proteins play a key role in the cytoskeletal structure of eukaryotes and are essential for the close arrangement of the endoplasmic reticulum and plasma membrane. A gene with nine MORN motifs (TGGT1_292120, named Tg<i>MORN2</i>) was identified in the <i>Toxoplasma gondii</i...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2023-06-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Molecular Sciences |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/24/12/10228 |
| Summary: | MORN proteins play a key role in the cytoskeletal structure of eukaryotes and are essential for the close arrangement of the endoplasmic reticulum and plasma membrane. A gene with nine MORN motifs (TGGT1_292120, named Tg<i>MORN2</i>) was identified in the <i>Toxoplasma gondii</i> genome; it was presumed to belong to the MORN protein family and to have the function of forming the cytoskeleton, which affects the survival of <i>T. gondii</i>. However, the genetic deletion of <i>MORN2</i> did not noticeably affect parasite growth and virulence. Using adjacent protein labeling techniques, we identified a network of TgMORN2 interactions, which mainly included endoplasmic reticulum stress (ER stress)-related proteins. In exploring these data, we found that the pathogenicity of the KO-Tg<i>MORN2</i> strain was significantly reduced in the case of tunicamycin-induced ER stress. Reticulon TgRTN (TGGT1_226430) and tubulin β-Tubulin were identified as interaction proteins of TgMORN2. Collectively, TgMORN2 plays a role in ER stress, which lays a foundation for further research on the function of the MORN protein in <i>T. gondii</i>. |
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| ISSN: | 1661-6596 1422-0067 |