ArticleMolecular microbiology2013
Characterization of a second sterol-esterifying enzyme in Toxoplasma highlights the importance of cholesterol storage pathways for the parasite.
Article in Molecular microbiology, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 28 papers.
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.
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.
Who cites it
28 citing papers in PubMed, 41 citations in OpenAlex.
- Interplay of obesity and parasitic infection: current evidence of immunogenesis, tumorigenesis and leptin receptor involvement.Nutrition & metabolism · 2025Review
- The intersection of hostMicrobiology and molecular biology reviews : MMBR · 2024Review
- Lipid metabolism: the potential targets for toxoplasmosis treatment.Parasites & vectors · 2024Review
- Function and regulation of a steroidogenic CYP450 enzyme in the mitochondrion of Toxoplasma gondii.PLoS pathogens · 2023Article
- CRISPR Screens IdentifymBio · 2023Article
- The flexibility of Apicomplexa parasites in lipid metabolism.PLoS pathogens · 2022Review
- Lipid droplets of protozoan parasites: survival and pathogenicity.Memorias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz · 2022Article
- Toxoplasma gondii serine hydrolases regulate parasite lipid mobilization during growth and replication within the host.Cell chemical biology · 2021Article
- Lipid droplets and the host-pathogen dynamic: FATal attraction?The Journal of cell biology · 2021Review
- Hydroquinone exposure accumulates neutral lipid by the activation of CDP-DAG pathway inToxicology research · 2021Article
- Biogenesis and Breakdown of Lipid Droplets in Pathological Conditions.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2021Review
- Benzoquinone alters the lipid homeostasis inToxicology research · 2019Article
- Besnoitia besnoiti infection alters both endogenous cholesterol de novo synthesis and exogenous LDL uptake in host endothelial cells.Scientific reports · 2019Article
- Novel Approaches To Kill Toxoplasma gondii by Exploiting the Uncontrolled Uptake of Unsaturated Fatty Acids and Vulnerability to Lipid Storage Inhibition of the Parasite.Antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy · 2018Article
- Lipid Droplet, a Key Player in Host-Parasite Interactions.Frontiers in immunology · 2018Review
- Fetomaternal and Pediatric Toxoplasmosis.Journal of pediatric infectious diseases · 2017Article
- Host lipid droplets: An important source of lipids salvaged by the intracellular parasite Toxoplasma gondii.PLoS pathogens · 2017Article
- Adaptations to High Salt in a Halophilic Protist: Differential Expression and Gene Acquisitions through Duplications and Gene Transfers.Frontiers in microbiology · 2017Article
- A Lipolytic Lecithin:Cholesterol Acyltransferase Secreted by Toxoplasma Facilitates Parasite Replication and Egress.The Journal of biological chemistry · 2016Article
- Neospora caninum Recruits Host Cell Structures to Its Parasitophorous Vacuole and Salvages Lipids from Organelles.Eukaryotic cell · 2015Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Lipid bodies are eukaryotic structures for temporary storage of neutral lipids such as acylglycerols and steryl esters. Fatty acyl-CoA and cholesterol are two substrates for cholesteryl ester (CE) synthesis via the ACAT reaction. The intracellular parasite Toxoplasma gondii is incapable of sterol synthesis and unremittingly scavenges cholesterol from mammalian host cells. We previously demonstrated that the parasite expresses a cholesteryl ester-synthesizing enzyme, TgACAT1. In this article, we identified and characterized a second ACAT-like enzyme, TgACAT2, which shares 56% identity with TgACAT1. Both enzymes are endoplasmic reticulum-associated and contribute to CE formation for storage in lipid bodies. While TgACAT1 preferentially utilizes palmitoyl-CoA, TgACAT2 has broader fatty acid specificity and produces more CE. Genetic ablation of each individual ACAT results in parasite growth impairment whereas dual ablation of ACAT1 and ACAT2 is not tolerated by Toxoplasma. ΔACAT1 and ΔACAT2 parasites have reduced CE levels, fewer lipid bodies, and accumulate free cholesterol, which causes injurious membrane effects. Mutant parasites are particularly vulnerable to ACAT inhibitors. This study underlines the important physiological role of ACAT enzymes to store cholesterol in a sterol-auxotrophic organism such as Toxoplasma, and furthermore opens up possibilities of exploiting TgACAT as targets for the development of antitoxoplasmosis drugs.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.