TY - JOUR
T1 - Toxoplasma gondii F-actin forms an extensive filamentous network required for material exchange and parasite maturation
AU - Periz, Javier
AU - Whitelaw, Jamie
AU - Harding, Clare
AU - Gras, Simon
AU - Minina, Mario Igor Del Rosario
AU - Latorre-Barragan, Fernanda
AU - Lemgruber, Leandro
AU - Reimer, Madita Alice
AU - Insall, Robert
AU - Heaslip, Aoife
AU - Meissner, Markus
PY - 2017/3/31
Y1 - 2017/3/31
N2 - 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.
AB - 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.
UR - http://europepmc.org/abstract/med/28322189
U2 - 10.7554/elife.24119
DO - 10.7554/elife.24119
M3 - Article
C2 - 28322189
VL - 6
JO - eLife
JF - eLife
M1 - e24119
ER -