Structural definition of babesial RAP-1 proteins identifies a novel protein superfamily across Apicomplexa.

ABSTRACT: Apicomplexan protozoa are intracellular parasites of medical and economic importance. These parasites contain specialized apical complex organelles, including rhoptries, that participate in the process of host cell invasion. Conserved antigens expressed in the rhoptries are rational vaccine targets, but whether conservation of protein structure is a functional requirement for invasion remains unknown. Novel protein structural modeling enables identification of structurally conserved protein families that are not evident by sequence analysis alone. Here we show by AlphaFold2 structural modeling that the rhoptry-associated protein 1 superfamily of the Piroplasmida hemoparasites Babesia and Theileria (pRAP-1) is structurally conserved, with the core conserved region being composed of a globin

SUBMITTER: Hotzel I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10724250 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature