Parasitophorous vacuole

The parasitophorous vacuole (PV) is a structure produced by apicomplexan parasites in the cell of its host. The PV allows the parasite to develop while protected from the phagolysosomes of the host cell.[1] The PV is a bubble-like compartment made of plasma membrane and containing cytoplasm and the parasite. The PV allows the parasite to exist and grow within the cell while protecting it from the host cell defense mechanisms. The PV prevents the acidification of the compartment, the mechanism by which the lysosomes of the host cell would normally destroy an invading parasite.[1] Parasites that form a parasitophorous vacuole as part of their infection process include Plasmodium falciparum, which causes malaria, Toxoplasma gondii, which causes toxoplasmosis, and members of the genus Leishmania, which causes leishmaniasis.[2][3]

The parasitophorous vacuole is formed during cell invasion, when the parasite uses part of the membrane of the host cell to form a parasitophorous vacuolar membrane (PVM). The PVM surrounds the intracellular parasite, creating a separate bubble of cytoplasm-filled plasma membrane within the host cell. The rhoptry and the microneme, special secretory organelles found in apicomplexan parasites, play a major role in the formation of the vacuole.[4] One theory is that the microneme works with the rhoptry and the rhoptry secretes proteins to create the PVM, while the microneme binds to the surface of red blood cells, allowing the parasite to more easily enter into the cell.[2]

The PV is not a true vacuole, but resembles one under the microscope.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 Laliberté, J.; Carruthers, V. B. (2008). "Host cell manipulation by the human pathogen Toxoplasma gondii". Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences. 65 (12): 1900–1915. doi:10.1007/s00018-008-7556-x. ISSN 1420-682X. PMC 2662853Freely accessible. PMID 18327664.
  2. 1 2 3 Lingelbach K, Joiner KA (1998). "The parasitophorous vacuole membrane surrounding Plasmodium and Toxoplasma: an unusual compartment in infected cells". J. Cell. Sci. 111 (11): 1467–75. PMID 9580555.
  3. ↑ Kima PE (2007). "The amastigote forms of Leishmania are experts at exploiting host cell processes to establish infection and persist". Int. J. Parasitol. 37 (10): 1087–96. doi:10.1016/j.ijpara.2007.04.007. PMC 2043126Freely accessible. PMID 17543969.
  4. ↑ Kemp LE, Yamamoto M, Soldati-Favre D (2013). "Subversion of host cellular functions by the apicomplexan parasites". FEMS Microbiol. Rev. 37 (4): 607–31. doi:10.1111/1574-6976.12013. PMID 23186105.


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