Abstract 1428 Transactions across the border: Toxoplasma recruits mammalian ESCRT-III and ER Membrane Contact Site proteins at the parasitophorous vacuole to exploit host cell resources

The parasite Toxoplasma gondii replicates within a specialized nonfusogenic parasitophorous vacuole (PV) in mammalian cells. The PV membrane (PVM) acts as a barrier protecting the parasite from host cellular assaults but is also a dynamic platform to exploit surrounding resources through host cell manipulation. We have deciphered two strategies developed by Toxoplasma to divert host nutrient-filled organelles at the PV, e.g. for lipid uptake. In a first tactic, the parasite sequesters host organelles (endo-lysosomes, Rab vesicles, lipid droplets) into the PV through PVM invaginations that ultimately detach from this membrane.