Doctoral thesis
English

Dissecting the role(s) of Toxoplasma gondii microneme protein protease 1 activity and its substrates

ContributorsRugarabamu, George
Defense date2015-10-30
Abstract

Host-cell invasion by Toxoplasma gondii is associated with the shedding of microneme-derived adhesins (MICs) from the parasite surface. MICs play diverse roles during host cell invasion and MICs shedding modulates these processes. The intramembrane shedding of MICs was described to be mediated by an anonymous proteolytic activity called microneme protein protease 1 (MPP1). In order to unravel the precise function of MPP1 activity and to define the responsible enzyme(s), we generated parasite lacking the candidate enzymes, rhomboid protein proteases 4 and 5 (ROM4 and/or ROM5). We demonstrate that ROM4 mediates the cleavage of MIC2, MIC6 and a proportion of AMA1, while ROM5 cleaves AMA1 family of proteins. ROM4 null parasites possessed enhanced attachment and were impaired in host-cell invasion; however, intracellular growth was not impaired. Moreover, the deletion of ROM5 revealed no major phenotypic consequence during in vitro growth. We also analyzed the essentiality of the AMA1 family of proteins by generating respective parasite mutants, and show that compensatory mechanisms exist in coordinating host-cell invasion process.

Citation (ISO format)
RUGARABAMU, George. Dissecting the role(s) of Toxoplasma gondii microneme protein protease 1 activity and its substrates. Doctoral Thesis, 2015. doi: 10.13097/archive-ouverte/unige:76770
Main files (1)
Thesis
accessLevelRestricted
Identifiers
899views
12downloads

Technical informations

Creation19/10/2015 20:01:00
First validation19/10/2015 20:01:00
Update14/03/2023 23:46:57
Status update14/03/2023 23:46:56
Last indexation13/05/2025 16:52:03
All rights reserved by Archive ouverte UNIGE and the University of GenevaunigeBlack