Toxoplasma Does Not Secrete the GRA16 and GRA24 Effectors Beyond the Parasitophorous Vacuole Membrane of Tissue Cysts

Abstract

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After invasion, Toxoplasma resides in a parasitophorous vacuole (PV) that is surrounded by the PV membrane (PVM). Once inside the PV, tachyzoites secrete dense granule proteins (GRAs) of which some, such as GRA16 and GRA24, are transported beyond the PVM likely via a putative translocon. However, once tachyzoites convert into bradyzoites within cysts, it is not known if secreted GRAs can traffic beyond the cyst wall membrane. We used the tetracycline inducible system to drive expression of HA epitope tagged GRA16 and GRA24 after inducing stage conversion and show that these proteins are not secreted beyond the cyst wall membrane. This suggests that secretion of GRA beyond the PVM is not important for the tissue cyst stage of Toxoplasma.

Keywords

• Toxoplasma gondii
• secreted effectors
• tissue cyst wall
• tetracycline inducible expression
• GRA16
• GRA24