| Description | Toxoplasma gondii is an obligate intracellular apicomplexan protozoan parasite, with a complex lifestyle involving varied hosts [ ]. It has two phases of growth: an intestinal phase in feline hosts, and an extra-intestinal phase in other mammals. Oocysts from infected cats develop into tachyzoites, and eventually, bradyzoites and zoitocysts in the extraintestinal host []. Transmission of the parasite occurs through contact with infected cats or raw/undercooked meat; in immunocompromised individuals, it can cause severe and often lethal toxoplasmosis. Acute infection in healthy humans can sometimes also cause tissue damage [].The protozoan utilises a variety of secretory and antigenic proteins to invade a host and gain access to the intracellular environment [ ]. These originate from distinct organelles in the T. gondii cell termed micronemes, rhoptries, and dense granules. They are released at specific times during invasion to ensure the proteins are allocated to their correct target destinations []. Dense granule antigens (GRAs) are released from the T. gondii tachyzoite while still encapsulated in a host vacuole.Gra6, one of these moieties, is associated with the parasitophorous vacuole [ ]. It possesses a hydrophobic central region flanked by two hydrophilic domains, and is present as a single copy gene in the Toxoplasma gondii genome []. Gra6 shares a similar function with Gra2, in that it is rapidly targeted to a network of membranous tubules that connect with the vacuolar membrane []. Indeed, these two proteins, together with Gra4, form a multimeric complex that stabilises the parasite within the vacuole. | Name | Dense granule Gra6 protein |
| Short Name | Gra6_protein | Type | Family |
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