The inner membrane complex sub-compartment proteins critical for replication of the apicomplexan parasite Toxoplasma gondii adopt a pleckstrin homology fold.

ABSTRACT: Toxoplasma gondii, an apicomplexan parasite prevalent in developed nations, infects up to one-third of the human population. The success of this parasite depends on several unique structures including an inner membrane complex (IMC) that lines the interior of the plasma membrane and contains proteins important for gliding motility and replication. Of these proteins, the IMC sub-compartment proteins (ISPs) have recently been shown to play a role in asexual T. gondii daughter cell formation, yet the mechanism is unknown. Complicating mechanistic characterization of the ISPs is a lack of sequence identity with proteins of known structure or function. In support of elucidating the function of ISPs, we first determined the crystal structures of representative members TgISP1 and TgISP3 to a reso

SUBMITTER: Tonkin ML 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4022867 | biostudies-literature | 2014 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature