Boothroyd John C, Dubremetz Jean-Francois
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California 94305-5124, USA.
Nat Rev Microbiol. 2008 Jan;6(1):79-88. doi: 10.1038/nrmicro1800.
Toxoplasma gondii is a single-celled, eukaryotic parasite that can only reproduce inside a host cell. Upon entry, this Apicomplexan parasite co-opts host functions for its own purposes. An unusual set of apical organelles, named rhoptries, contain some of the machinery that is used by T. gondii both for invasion and to commandeer host functions. Of particular interest are a group of injected protein kinases that are among the most variable of all the T. gondii proteins. At least one of these kinases has a major effect on host-gene expression, including the modulation of key regulators of the immune response. Here, we discuss these recent findings and use them to propose a model in which an expansion of host range is a major force that drives rhoptry-protein evolution.
刚地弓形虫是一种单细胞真核寄生虫，只能在宿主细胞内繁殖。进入宿主细胞后，这种顶复门寄生虫会为自身目的而利用宿主功能。一组名为棒状体的特殊顶端细胞器含有刚地弓形虫用于入侵和操控宿主功能的部分机制。特别值得关注的是一组注入的蛋白激酶，它们是所有刚地弓形虫蛋白中变化最大的。这些激酶中至少有一种对宿主基因表达有重大影响，包括对免疫反应关键调节因子的调控。在这里，我们讨论这些最新发现，并利用它们提出一个模型，其中宿主范围的扩大是推动棒状体蛋白进化的主要力量。
