Thursday, March 23, 2017

Toxoplasma gondii F-actin forms an extensive filamentous network required for material exchange and parasite maturation

 2017 Mar 21;6. pii: e24119. doi: 10.7554/eLife.24119. [Epub ahead of print]

Abstract

Apicomplexan actin is important during the parasite's life cycle. Its polymerization kinetics are unusual, permitting only short, unstable F-actin filaments. It has not been possible to study actin in vivo and so its physiological roles have remained obscure, leading to models distinct from conventional actin behaviour. Here a modified version of the commercially available Actin-Chromobody® was tested as a novel tool for visualising F-actin dynamics in Toxoplasma gondii. Cb labels filamentous actin structures within the parasite cytosol and labels an extensive F-actin network that connects parasites within the parasitophorous vacuole and allows vesicles to be exchanged between parasites. In the absence of actin, parasites lack a residual body and inter-parasite connections and grow in an asynchronous and disorganized manner. Collectively, these data identify new roles for actin in the intracellular phase of the parasites lytic cycle and provide a robust new tool for imaging parasitic F-actin dynamics.

KEYWORDS: 

cell biology; infectious disease; microbiology
PMID:
 
28322189
 
DOI:
 
10.7554/eLife.24119

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