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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2017 Aug 1.
Published in final edited form as: Curr Opin Microbiol. 2016 May 4;32:38–45. doi: 10.1016/j.mib.2016.04.013

Figure 4. T. gondii Asp5 aspartic protease putative substrates and their location.

Figure 4

Schematic of Toxoplasma tachyzoite stage with apical organelles (blue as defined in Fig. 2) and Aspartic protease 5 (Asp5) in the Golgi, that cleaves an HT/PEXEL like motif on proteins prior to their transport (red arrow) to the dense granules, from where they are delivered to the parasitophorous vacuole (PV), membranous nanotubular network (MNN), parasitophorous vacuolar membrane (PVM) and host cell (nucleus). Failure to cleave, effected in Δasp5 mutants results in accumulation of multiple Asp5 substrates in the PV. GRA19 and GRA20 remain at PVM, but since their molecular interactions are likely to be altered, it may be that HT/PEXEL like motif in Toxoplasma targets effectors to a specialized site/complex in the PV/PVM, at which additional (but presently unknown) signals and transporters (likely distinct from Plasmodial PTEX) mediate translocation across the T. gondii PVM.