Toxoplasma MIC2 is a major determinant of invasion and virulence.

ABSTRACT: Like its apicomplexan kin, the obligate intracellular protozoan Toxoplasma gondii actively invades mammalian cells and uses a unique form of gliding motility. The recent identification of several transmembrane adhesive complexes, potentially capable of gripping external receptors and the sub-membrane actinomyosin motor, suggests that the parasite has multiple options for host-cell recognition and invasion. To test whether the transmembrane adhesin MIC2, together with its partner protein M2AP, participates in a major invasion pathway, we utilized a conditional expression system to introduce an anhydrotetracycline-responsive mic2 construct, allowing us to then knockout the endogenous mic2 gene. Conditional suppression of MIC2 provided the first opportunity to directly determine the role of t

SUBMITTER: Huynh MH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1550269 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature