Figure 7.

TgROP18-interacting proteins involved in the immune response. Numerous ROP18_I (red circles) and ROP18_II (blue circles) identified interacting proteins related to the processes of immune response. During T. gondii infection, innate immune response acts rapidly to provide the first line of defense and activate the adaptive immune response, with release of proinflammatory cytokines by macrophages, dendritic cells, and neutrophils. In the milieu of proinflammatory cytokines, T cell-mediated immune response is initiated when naïve CD4⁺ or CD8⁺ T cells encounter the parasite antigens presented by antigen presenting cells (APCs). Once the antigen-specific T lymphocytes are activated, they proliferate, differentiate, and traffic to the sites of infection, protecting the host by exhibiting cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) activities toward infected cells.