A novel membrane complex is required for docking and regulated exocytosis of lysosome-related organelles in Tetrahymena thermophila.

ABSTRACT: In the ciliate Tetrahymena thermophila, lysosome-related organelles called mucocysts accumulate at the cell periphery where they secrete their contents in response to extracellular events, a phenomenon called regulated exocytosis. The molecular bases underlying regulated exocytosis have been extensively described in animals but it is not clear whether similar mechanisms exist in ciliates or their sister lineage, the Apicomplexan parasites, which together belong to the ecologically and medically important superphylum Alveolata. Beginning with a T. thermophila mutant in mucocyst exocytosis, we used a forward genetic approach to uncover MDL1 (Mucocyst Discharge with a LamG domain), a novel gene that is essential for regulated exocytosis of mucocysts. Mdl1p is a 40 kDa membrane glycoprotein th

SUBMITTER: Kuppannan A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9159632 | biostudies-literature | 2022 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature