Evidence map›Paper›PMID 22144900›Full record

ArticlePLoS pathogens2011

Autophagy protein Atg3 is essential for maintaining mitochondrial integrity and for normal intracellular development of Toxoplasma gondii tachyzoites.

Sébastien Besteiro, Carrie F Brooks, Boris Striepen, Jean-François Dubremetz

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PLoS pathogens, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 77 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
77citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
6.0field-weighted citation impact, top 3% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

77 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 134 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Guideline
  2. Guideline
  3. Guideline
  4. Review
  5. bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026
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  8. mBio · 2025
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  9. mSphere · 2025
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  16. Article
  17. Two small-molecule inhibitors ofFrontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2023
    Article
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. The Toxoplasma plant-like vacuolar compartment (PLVAC).The Journal of eukaryotic microbiology · 2022
    Review

17 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Sébastien BesteiroUMR 5235 CNRS, Universités de Montpellier 2 et 1, Dynamique des Interactions Membranaires Normales et Pathologiques, Montpellier, France. sebastien.besteiro@univ-montp2.fr
Carrie F Brooks
Boris Striepen
Jean-François Dubremetz
University of Georgia · USCentre National de la Recherche Scientifique · FRLaboratory of Pathogens and Host Immunity · FR

Funding

Biology of the Apicomplexan PlastidR01AI064671 · NIAID · UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA · PI STRIEPEN, BORIS · 2006 to 2015
$3.1M
NIAID NIH HHS R01 AI064671
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Autophagy is a cellular process that is highly conserved among eukaryotes and permits the degradation of cellular material. Autophagy is involved in multiple survival-promoting processes. It not only facilitates the maintenance of cell homeostasis by degrading long-lived proteins and damaged organelles, but it also plays a role in cell differentiation and cell development. Equally important is its function for survival in stress-related conditions such as recycling of proteins and organelles during nutrient starvation. Protozoan parasites have complex life cycles and face dramatically changing environmental conditions; whether autophagy represents a critical coping mechanism throughout these changes remains poorly documented. To investigate this in Toxoplasma gondii, we have used TgAtg8 as an autophagosome marker and showed that autophagy and the associated cellular machinery are present and functional in the parasite. In extracellular T. gondii tachyzoites, autophagosomes were induced in response to amino acid starvation, but they could also be observed in culture during the normal intracellular development of the parasites. Moreover, we generated a conditional T. gondii mutant lacking the orthologue of Atg3, a key autophagy protein. TgAtg3-depleted parasites were unable to regulate the conjugation of TgAtg8 to the autophagosomal membrane. The mutant parasites also exhibited a pronounced fragmentation of their mitochondrion and a drastic growth phenotype. Overall, our results show that TgAtg3-dependent autophagy might be regulating mitochondrial homeostasis during cell division and is essential for the normal development of T. gondii tachyzoites.

Indexed as

MutationCell DivisionCells, CulturedFibroblastsHumansMaleMitochondriaProtozoan ProteinsToxoplasmaToxoplasmosisUbiquitin-Conjugating EnzymesProtozoan ProteinsUbiquitin-Conjugating Enzymes

Identifiers

PMID22144900
PMCPMC3228817
OpenAlexW2050462870

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.