Characterisation of two Toxoplasma PROPPINs homologous to Atg18/WIPI suggests they have evolved distinct specialised functions.

ABSTRACT: Toxoplasma gondii is a parasitic protist possessing a limited set of proteins involved in the autophagy pathway, a self-degradative machinery for protein and organelle recycling. This distant eukaryote has even repurposed part of this machinery, centered on protein ATG8, for a non-degradative function related to the maintenance of the apicoplast, a parasite-specific organelle. However, some evidence also suggest Toxoplasma is able to generate autophagic vesicles upon stress, and that some autophagy-related proteins, such as ATG9, might be involved solely in the canonical autophagy function. Here, we have characterised TgPROP1 and TgPROP2, two Toxoplasma proteins containing WD-40 repeat that can bind lipids for their recruitment to vesicular structures upon stress. They belong to the PROPPI

SUBMITTER: Nguyen HM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5901921 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature