Thursday, March 06, 2008

Apicomplexa in mammalian cells: trafficking to the parasitophorous vacuole

Traffic. 2008 Feb 24 [Epub ahead of print]

Apicomplexa in mammalian cells: trafficking to the parasitophorous vacuole

Cesbron-Delauw MF, Gendrin C, Travier L, Ruffiot P, Mercier C.

Laboratoire Adaptation et Pathogénie des Microorganismes, CNRS UMR 5163, Université Joseph Fourier Grenoble 1, BP 170, 38042 Grenoble cedex 9, France.

Most Apicomplexa reside and multiply in the cytoplasm of their host cell, within a parasitophorous vacuole (PV) originating from both parasite and host cell components. Trafficking of parasite-encoded proteins destined to membrane compartments beyond the confine of the parasite plasma membrane is a process that offers a rich territory to explore novel mechanisms of protein-membrane interactions. Here, we focus on the parasitophorous vacuoles formed by the asexual stages of two pathogens of medical importance, Plasmodium and Toxoplasma. We compare the PV of both parasites, with a particular emphasis on their evolutionary divergent compartmentalization within the host cell. We also discuss the existence of peculiar export mechanisms and/or sorting determinants that are potentially involved in the post-secretory targeting of parasite proteins to the PV sub-compartments.

PMID: 18315533 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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