Cellular electron tomography of the apical complex in the apicomplexan parasite Eimeria tenella shows a highly organised gateway for regulated secretion.

ABSTRACT: The apical complex of apicomplexan parasites is essential for host cell invasion and intracellular survival and as the site of regulated exocytosis from specialised secretory organelles called rhoptries and micronemes. Despite its importance, there are few data on the three-dimensional organisation and quantification of these organelles within the apical complex or how they are trafficked to this specialised region of plasma membrane for exocytosis. In coccidian apicomplexans there is an additional tubulin-containing hollow barrel structure, the conoid, which provides a structural gateway for this specialised apical secretion. Using a combination of cellular electron tomography and serial block face-scanning electron microscopy (SBF-SEM) we have reconstructed the entire apical end of Eimer

SUBMITTER: Burrell A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9302750 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature