Cryo-ET of Toxoplasma parasites gives subnanometer insight into tubulin-based structures.

ABSTRACT: Tubulin is a conserved protein that polymerizes into different forms of filamentous structures in Toxoplasma gondii, an obligate intracellular parasite in the phylum Apicomplexa. Two key tubulin-containing cytoskeletal components are subpellicular microtubules (SPMTs) and conoid fibrils (CFs). The SPMTs help maintain shape and gliding motility, while the CFs are implicated in invasion. Here, we use cryogenic electron tomography to determine the molecular structures of the SPMTs and CFs in vitrified intact and detergent-extracted parasites. Subvolume densities from detergent-extracted parasites yielded averaged density maps at subnanometer resolutions, and these were related back to their architecture in situ. An intralumenal spiral lines the interior of the 13-protofilament SPMTs, r

SUBMITTER: Sun SY 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8832990 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature