ROP18 Is a Rhoptry Kinase Controlling the Intracellular Proliferation of Toxo

PLoS Pathog. 2007 Feb 16;3(2):e14 [Epub ahead of print]

ROP18 Is a Rhoptry Kinase Controlling the Intracellular Proliferation of Toxoplasma gondii

El Hajj H, Lebrun M, Arold ST, Vial H, Labesse G, Dubremetz JF.

Toxoplasma gondii is an obligate intracellular parasite for which the discharge of apical organelles named rhoptries is a key event in host cell invasion. Among rhoptry proteins, ROP2, which is the prototype of a large protein family, is translocated in the parasitophorous vacuole membrane during invasion. The ROP2 family members are related to protein-kinases, but only some of them are predicted to be catalytically active, and none of the latter has been characterized so far. We show here that ROP18, a member of the ROP2 family, is located in the rhoptries and re-localises at the parasitophorous vacuole membrane during invasion. We demonstrate that a recombinant ROP18 catalytic domain (amino acids 243-539) possesses a protein-kinase activity and phosphorylate parasitic substrates, especially a 70-kDa protein of tachyzoites. Furthermore, we show that overexpression of ROP18 in transgenic parasites causes a dramatic increase in intra-vacuolar parasite multiplication rate, which is correlated with kinase activity. Therefore, we demonstrate, to our knowledge for the first time, that rhoptries can discharge active protein-kinases upon host cell invasion, which can exert a long-lasting effect on intracellular parasite development and virulence.

PMID: 17305424 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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PLoS Pathog. 2007 Feb 16;3(2):e16 [Epub ahead of print]

The Toxoplasma Kinase ROP18: An Active Member of a Degenerate Family

Sinai AP

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