N-terminal palmitoylation is required for Toxoplasma gondii HSP20 inner membrane complex localization
- de Napoli, Maximiliano Gabriel
- de Miguel, Natalia
- Lebrun, M.
- Moreno, S. N. J.
- Ángel, Sergio Oscar
- Corvi, Maria Martha
DOIAbstract
Toxoplasma gondii is an obligate intracellular parasite and the causative agent of toxoplasmosis. Protein palmitoylation is known to play roles in signal transduction and in enhancing the hydrophobicity of proteins thus contributing to their membrane association. Global inhibition of protein palmitoylation has been shown to affect T. gondii physiology and invasion of the host cell. However, the proteins affected by this modification have been understudied. This paper shows that the small heat shock protein 20 from T. gondii (TgHSP20) is synthesized as a mature protein in the cytosol and is palmitoylated in three cysteine residues. However, its localization at the inner membrane complex (IMC) is dependent only on N-terminal palmitoylation. A...