ArticlePLoS pathogens2017
The role of microsporidian polar tube protein 4 (PTP4) in host cell infection.
Article in PLoS pathogens, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 44 papers.
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Who cites it
44 citing papers in PubMed, 94 citations in OpenAlex.
- Microsporidia: evolution, infection mechanisms and host impact.Nature reviews. Microbiology · 2026Review
- Article
- Ultrastructural insights into the polar tube invasion organelle from microsporidian parasites.Current opinion in microbiology · 2026Review
- Telomere-to-telomere genome assembly of Microsporidia sp. MB, a microsporidian symbiont of Anopheles coluzzii isolated from Burkina Faso.BMC genomics · 2026Article
- Microsporidian Encephalitozoon hellem inhibits host mitophagy by inducing ERAD to degrade BNIP3L.PLoS pathogens · 2026Article
- Influence of host cell line and microsporidian species in the in vitro infection efficiency of Encephalitozoon spp.Parasite (Paris, France) · 2026Article
- EnP1 exploits H2Aub-dependent epigenetic reprogramming to promote microsporidia proliferation in host cells.PLoS pathogens · 2026Article
- Single-cell transcriptional responses of T cells during microsporidia infection.Communications biology · 2025Article
- scRNA-seq uncovers the transcriptional dynamics of Encephalitozoon intestinalis parasites in human macrophages.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Cryo-ET reveals the in situ architecture of the polar tube invasion apparatus from microsporidian parasites.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- NcPTP2, a polar tube protein, interacts with spore wall protein in the parasitic microsporidian Nosema ceranae.Molecular biology reports · 2024Article
- Microsporidian EnP1 alters host cell H2B monoubiquitination and prevents ferroptosis facilitating microsporidia survival.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2024Article
- Article
- Ultrastructural insights into the microsporidian infection apparatus reveal the kinetics and morphological transitions of polar tube and cargo during host cell invasion.PLoS biology · 2024Article
- Functional annotation of a divergent genome using sequence and structure-based similarity.BMC genomics · 2024Article
- Molecular characterization and phylogenetic analyses of MetAP2 gene and protein ofFrontiers in veterinary science · 2024Article
- Functional characterization of Nosema bombycis (microsporidia) trehalase 3.Parasitology research · 2023Article
- The microsporidian polar tube: origin, structure, composition, function, and application.Parasites & vectors · 2023Review
- Germination of Microsporidian Spores: The Known and Unknown.Journal of fungi (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Engineered gut symbiont inhibits microsporidian parasite and improves honey bee survival.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
14 authors at 5 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Microsporidia have been identified as pathogens that have important effects on our health, food security and economy. A key to the success of these obligate intracellular pathogens is their unique invasion organelle, the polar tube, which delivers the nucleus containing sporoplasm into host cells during invasion. Due to the size of the polar tube, the rapidity of polar tube discharge and sporoplasm passage, and the absence of genetic techniques for the manipulation of microsporidia, study of this organelle has been difficult and there is relatively little known regarding polar tube formation and the function of the proteins making up this structure. Herein, we have characterized polar tube protein 4 (PTP4) from the microsporidium Encephalitozoon hellem and found that a monoclonal antibody to PTP4 labels the tip of the polar tube suggesting that PTP4 might be involved in a direct interaction with host cell proteins during invasion. Further analyses employing indirect immunofluorescence (IFA), enzyme-linked immunosorbent (ELISA) and fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) assays confirmed that PTP4 binds to mammalian cells. The addition of either recombinant PTP4 protein or anti-PTP4 antibody reduced microsporidian infection of its host cells in vitro. Proteomic analysis of PTP4 bound to host cell membranes purified by immunoprecipitation identified transferrin receptor 1 (TfR1) as a potential host cell interacting partner for PTP4. Additional experiments revealed that knocking out TfR1, adding TfR1 recombinant protein into cell culture, or adding anti-TfR1 antibody into cell culture significantly reduced microsporidian infection rates. These results indicate that PTP4 is an important protein competent of the polar tube involved in the mechanism of host cell infection utilized by these pathogens.
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