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Review
. 2021 May;115(5):916-929.
doi: 10.1111/mmi.14661. Epub 2020 Dec 28.

Environmental sensing and regulation of motility in Toxoplasma

Alessandro D Uboldi  1   2 , Mary-Louise Wilde  1   2 , Stefanie M Bader  1 , Christopher J Tonkin  1   2
Affiliations
Free article
Review

Environmental sensing and regulation of motility in Toxoplasma

Alessandro D Uboldi et al. Mol Microbiol. 2021 May.
Free article

Abstract

Toxoplasma and other apicomplexan parasites undergo a unique form of cellular locomotion referred to as "gliding motility." Gliding motility is crucial for parasite survival as it powers tissue dissemination, host cell invasion and egress. Distinct environmental cues lead to activation of gliding motility and have become a prominent focus of recent investigation. Progress has been made toward understanding what environmental cues are sensed and how these signals are transduced in order to regulate the machinery and cellular events powering gliding motility. In this review, we will discuss new findings and integrate these into our current understanding to propose a model of how environmental sensing is achieved to regulate gliding motility in Toxoplasma. Collectively, these findings also have implications for the understanding of gliding motility across Apicomplexa more broadly.

Keywords: Toxoplasma; Apicomplexa; Ca2+; cAMP; cGMP; environmental sensing; gliding motility; signal transduction.

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