Structural characterization of the bradyzoite surface antigen (BSR4) from Toxoplasma gondii, a unique addition to the surface antigen glycoprotein 1-related superfamily.

ABSTRACT: Toxoplasma gondii is an obligate intracellular protozoan parasite that infects nearly one-third of the human population. The success of T. gondii is based on its complex life cycle; a lytic tachyzoite form disseminates infection, whereas an encysted bradyzoite form establishes a latent, chronic infection. Persistence and transmissibility is central to the survival of the parasite and is, in part, mediated by a family of antigenically distinct surface antigen glycoprotein (SAG)-related sequences (SRS) adhesins that play a dual role in host cell attachment and host immune evasion. More than 160 members of the SRS family have been identified with only the tachyzoite-expressed SAG1 structurally characterized. Here we report the first structural description of the bradyzoite adhesin BSR4 using

SUBMITTER: Crawford J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2666571 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature