Kacper M Sendra

Abstract All cellular life possesses environmental interfaces like cell membranes or cell walls, yet the compositional complexity of these major cell components limits structural and evolutionary studies. Prokaryotic surface layer (S-layer) exoskeletons, with their homopolymer paracrystalline architecture, offer a more tractable evolutionary model of an environmental interface.

New Results doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.08.15.503970 Abstract Intracellular pathogens such as Microsporidia can interact with host proteostasis pathways such as autophagy. Previous work done in Caenorhabditis elegans demonstrated involvement of autophagy in controlling Microsporidian proliferation through ubiquitin labelling of the parasite and subsequent degradation by autolysomes. However, it remains unknown if such mechanisms also play the role in mammalian models.

Abstract Plasma membrane-located transport proteins are key adaptations for obligate intracellular Microsporidia parasites, because they can use them to steal host metabolites the parasites need to grow and replicate. However, despite their importance, the functions and substrate specificities of most Microsporidia transporters are unknown. Here, we provide functional data for a family of transporters conserved in all microsporidian genomes and also in the genomes of related endoparasites.