Calcium signaling and the lytic cycle of the Apicomplexan parasite Toxoplasma gondii

Publication date: Available online 10 August 2018Source: Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Molecular Cell ResearchAuthor(s): Miryam Andrea Hortua Triana, Karla M. Márquez-Nogueras, Stephen A. Vella, Silvia N.J. MorenoAbstractToxoplasma gondii has a complex life cycle involving different hosts and is dependent on fast responses, as the parasite reacts to changing environmental conditions. T. gondii causes disease by lysing the host cells that it infects and it does this by reiterating its lytic cycle, which consists of host cell invasion, replication inside the host cell, and egress causing host cell lysis. Calcium ion (Ca2+) signaling triggers activation of molecules involved in the stimulation and enhancement of each step of the parasite lytic cycle. Ca2+ signaling is essential for the cellular and developmental changes that support T. gondii parasitism.The characterization of the molecular players and pathways directly activated by Ca2+ signaling in Toxoplasma is sketchy and incomplete. The evolutionary distance between Toxoplasma and other eukaryotic model systems makes the comparison sometimes not informative. The advent of new genomic information and new genetic tools applicable for studying Toxoplasma biology is rapidly changing this scenario. The Toxoplasma genome reveals the presence of many genes potentially involved in Ca2+ signaling, even though the role of most of them is not known. The use of Genetically Encoded Calcium Indicators (GECIs) has allowed studies...
Source: Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) Molecular Cell Research - Category: Molecular Biology Source Type: research