TgMORN1 is a key organizer for the basal complex of Toxoplasma gondii.
Toxoplasma gondii is a leading cause of congenital birth defects, as well as a cause for ocular and neurological diseases in humans. Its cytoskeleton is essential for parasite replication and invasion and contains many unique structures that are potential drug targets. Therefore, the biogenesis of t...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2010-02-01
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| Series: | PLoS Pathogens |
| Online Access: | http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC2816694?pdf=render |
| _version_ | 1831727772440985600 |
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| author | Aoife T Heaslip Florence Dzierszinski Barry Stein Ke Hu |
| author_facet | Aoife T Heaslip Florence Dzierszinski Barry Stein Ke Hu |
| author_sort | Aoife T Heaslip |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Toxoplasma gondii is a leading cause of congenital birth defects, as well as a cause for ocular and neurological diseases in humans. Its cytoskeleton is essential for parasite replication and invasion and contains many unique structures that are potential drug targets. Therefore, the biogenesis of the cytoskeletal structure of T. gondii is not only important for its pathogenesis, but also of interest to cell biology in general. Previously, we and others identified a new T. gondii cytoskeletal protein, TgMORN1, which is recruited to the basal complex at the very beginning of daughter formation. However, its function remained largely unknown. In this study, we generated a knock-out mutant of TgMORN1 (DeltaTgMORN1) using a Cre-LoxP based approach. We found that the structure of the basal complex was grossly affected in DeltaTgMORN1 parasites, which also displayed defects in cytokinesis. Moreover, DeltaTgMORN1 parasites showed significant growth impairment in vitro, and this translated into greatly attenuated virulence in mice. Therefore, our results demonstrate that TgMORN1 is required for maintaining the structural integrity of the parasite posterior end, and provide direct evidence that cytoskeleton integrity is essential for parasite virulence and pathogenesis. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-21T06:37:08Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-51ec19ce531643e2a92cbb4d37787f5b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1553-7366 1553-7374 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-21T06:37:08Z |
| publishDate | 2010-02-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS Pathogens |
| spelling | doaj.art-51ec19ce531643e2a92cbb4d37787f5b2022-12-21T19:12:51ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS Pathogens1553-73661553-73742010-02-0162e100075410.1371/journal.ppat.1000754TgMORN1 is a key organizer for the basal complex of Toxoplasma gondii.Aoife T HeaslipFlorence DzierszinskiBarry SteinKe HuToxoplasma gondii is a leading cause of congenital birth defects, as well as a cause for ocular and neurological diseases in humans. Its cytoskeleton is essential for parasite replication and invasion and contains many unique structures that are potential drug targets. Therefore, the biogenesis of the cytoskeletal structure of T. gondii is not only important for its pathogenesis, but also of interest to cell biology in general. Previously, we and others identified a new T. gondii cytoskeletal protein, TgMORN1, which is recruited to the basal complex at the very beginning of daughter formation. However, its function remained largely unknown. In this study, we generated a knock-out mutant of TgMORN1 (DeltaTgMORN1) using a Cre-LoxP based approach. We found that the structure of the basal complex was grossly affected in DeltaTgMORN1 parasites, which also displayed defects in cytokinesis. Moreover, DeltaTgMORN1 parasites showed significant growth impairment in vitro, and this translated into greatly attenuated virulence in mice. Therefore, our results demonstrate that TgMORN1 is required for maintaining the structural integrity of the parasite posterior end, and provide direct evidence that cytoskeleton integrity is essential for parasite virulence and pathogenesis.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC2816694?pdf=render |
| spellingShingle | Aoife T Heaslip Florence Dzierszinski Barry Stein Ke Hu TgMORN1 is a key organizer for the basal complex of Toxoplasma gondii. PLoS Pathogens |
| title | TgMORN1 is a key organizer for the basal complex of Toxoplasma gondii. |
| title_full | TgMORN1 is a key organizer for the basal complex of Toxoplasma gondii. |
| title_fullStr | TgMORN1 is a key organizer for the basal complex of Toxoplasma gondii. |
| title_full_unstemmed | TgMORN1 is a key organizer for the basal complex of Toxoplasma gondii. |
| title_short | TgMORN1 is a key organizer for the basal complex of Toxoplasma gondii. |
| title_sort | tgmorn1 is a key organizer for the basal complex of toxoplasma gondii |
| url | http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC2816694?pdf=render |
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