Evidence map›Paper›PMID 26374117›Full record

ArticlemBio2015

Two Essential Light Chains Regulate the MyoA Lever Arm To Promote Toxoplasma Gliding Motility.

Melanie J Williams, Hernan Alonso, Marta Enciso, Saskia Egarter, Lilach Sheiner, Markus Meissner, Boris Striepen, Brian J Smith, Christopher J Tonkin

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in mBio, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 32 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
32citing papers in PubMed
3.5field-weighted citation impact, top 8% 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

32 citing papers in PubMed, 52 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. The Centrocone Protein SMC_N1 Is Important for the Proliferation ofAnimals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2026
    Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Dominique Soldati-Favre: BringingFrontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2022
    Article
  14. Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2022
    Article
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Full-lengtheLife · 2020
    Article
  19. Review
  20. Article
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

9 authors at 5 institutions in 3 countries.

Melanie J WilliamsThe Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Department of Medical Biology, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Hernan AlonsoThe Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Department of Medical Biology, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Marta EncisoLa Trobe Institute for Molecular Science, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Saskia EgarterWellcome Trust Centre for Molecular Parasitology, University Of Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom.
Lilach SheinerWellcome Trust Centre for Molecular Parasitology, University Of Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom Centre for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, USA.
Markus MeissnerWellcome Trust Centre for Molecular Parasitology, University Of Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom.
Boris StriepenCentre for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, USA.
Brian J SmithLa Trobe Institute for Molecular Science, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Christopher J TonkinThe Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Department of Medical Biology, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia tonkin@wehi.edu.au.
Wellcome Centre for Molecular Parasitology · GBLa Trobe University · AUWalter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research · AUUniversity of Georgia · USUniversity of Melbourne · AU

Funding

Biology of the Apicomplexan PlastidR01AI064671 · NIAID · UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA · PI STRIEPEN, BORIS · 2006 to 2015
$3.1M
Genetic dissection of parasite metabolismR01AI084415 · NIAID · UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA · PI STRIEPEN, BORIS · 2010 to 2014
$1.7M
Genetic dissection of parasite metabolismR56AI084415 · NIAID · UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA · PI STRIEPEN, BORIS · 2009 to 2009
$287k
NIAID NIH HHS AI084415NIAID NIH HHS R01 AI064671NIAID NIH HHS R01 AI084415NIAID NIH HHS R01 AI 64671NIAID NIH HHS R56 AI084415Wellcome Trust 087582Wellcome Trust 103875Wellcome Trust 104111
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

unlabelledKey to the virulence of apicomplexan parasites is their ability to move through tissue and to invade and egress from host cells. Apicomplexan motility requires the activity of the glideosome, a multicomponent molecular motor composed of a type XIV myosin, MyoA. Here we identify a novel glideosome component, essential light chain 2 (ELC2), and functionally characterize the two essential light chains (ELC1 and ELC2) of MyoA in Toxoplasma. We show that these proteins are functionally redundant but are important for invasion, egress, and motility. Molecular simulations of the MyoA lever arm identify a role for Ca(2+) in promoting intermolecular contacts between the ELCs and the adjacent MLC1 light chain to stabilize this domain. Using point mutations predicted to ablate either the interaction with Ca(2+) or the interface between the two light chains, we demonstrate their contribution to the quality, displacement, and speed of gliding Toxoplasma parasites. Our work therefore delineates the importance of the MyoA lever arm and highlights a mechanism by which this domain could be stabilized in order to promote invasion, egress, and gliding motility in apicomplexan parasites. IMPORTANCE: Tissue dissemination and host cell invasion by apicomplexan parasites such as Toxoplasma are pivotal to their pathogenesis. Central to these processes is gliding motility, which is driven by an actomyosin motor, the MyoA glideosome. Others have demonstrated the importance of the MyoA glideosome for parasite motility and virulence in mice. Disruption of its function may therefore have therapeutic potential, and yet a deeper mechanistic understanding of how it works is required. Ca(2+)-dependent and -independent phosphorylation and the direct binding of Ca(2+) to the essential light chain have been implicated in the regulation of MyoA activity. Here we identify a second essential light chain of MyoA and demonstrate the importance of both to Toxoplasma motility. We also investigate the role of Ca(2+) and the MyoA regulatory site in parasite motility and identify a potential mechanism whereby binding of a divalent cation to the essential light chains could stabilize the myosin to allow productive movement.

Indexed as

LocomotionCells, CulturedDNA Mutational AnalysisFibroblastsHumansMacromolecular SubstancesModels, BiologicalModels, MolecularMyosin Light ChainsPoint MutationProtein ConformationToxoplasmaMacromolecular SubstancesMyosin Light Chains

Identifiers

PMID26374117
PMCPMC4600101
OpenAlexW1931001926

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-SA
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.