{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]],"date-time":"2026-07-30T14:14:52Z","timestamp":1785420892411,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":19,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,26]],"date-time":"2026-04-26T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1777161600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cient\u00edfico e Tecnol\u00f3gico-CNPq"},{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/03swz6y49","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"Funda\u00e7\u00e3o Carlos Chagas Filho de Apoio \u00e0 Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro"},{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/03kk0s825","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004916","name":"Funda\u00e7\u00e3o de Apoio \u00e0 Pesquisa do Estado do Amazonas","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004916","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/026d6ma13","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004809","name":"Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/030w99567","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Microorganisms"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Toxoplasma gondii, the causative agent of toxoplasmosis, a disease widely distributed, is an intracellular parasite that invades host cells of different tissues using specialized endocytic activity. Recent studies suggest that tunneling nanotubes (TNTs), thin cell-surface projections, may participate in the parasite\u2013host cell interaction. Here we report results that suggest the involvement of host-cell TNTs in the adhesion of T. gondii tachyzoites to epithelial LLC-MK2 cells. Microscopy analysis showed that incubating cells in a medium containing 0.45 M sucrose induces reversible assembly of TNTs without affecting cell viability. The presence of extended TNTs correlated with increased parasite adhesion and reduced parasite entry, thus suggesting a structural or signaling role in mediating adhesion. TNTs assembled following sucrose incubation contain both actin and tubulin components as determined by immunofluorescence microscopy. These results highlight a possible functional relevance of TNTs in T. gondii host cell interaction, especially in parasite adhesion, opening new perspectives for understanding T. gondii-host cell interaction.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/microorganisms14050971","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,29]],"date-time":"2026-04-29T15:01:18Z","timestamp":1777474878000},"page":"971","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Tunnelling Nanotube Projections May Interfere with Toxoplasma gondii Interaction with Host Cells"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Everson Reili de Souza","family":"Teles","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Laborat\u00f3rio de Ultraestrutura Celular Hertha Meyer, Centro de Pesquisa em Medicina de Precis\u00e3o, Instituto de Biof\u00edsica Carlos Chagas Filho, Centro Nacional de Biologia Estrutural e Bioimagem, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21941-900, Brazil"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1895-1299","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Wanderley","family":"de Souza","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laborat\u00f3rio de Ultraestrutura Celular Hertha Meyer, Centro de Pesquisa em Medicina de Precis\u00e3o, Instituto de Biof\u00edsica Carlos Chagas Filho, Centro Nacional de Biologia Estrutural e Bioimagem, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21941-900, Brazil"},{"name":"Centro Multiusu\u00e1rio de Pesquisa em Fen\u00f4menos Biom\u00e9dicos (CMABIO), Escola Superior de Sa\u00fade, Universidade do Estado do Amazonas, Manaus 69065-001, Brazil"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,26]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"797","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1462-5822.2011.01597.x","article-title":"The moving junction of apicomplexan parasites: A key structure for invasion","volume":"13","author":"Besteiro","year":"2011","journal-title":"Cell. Microbiol."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"453","DOI":"10.1111\/mmi.14674","article-title":"Biogenesis and discharge of the rhoptries: Key organelles for entry and hijack of host cells by the Apicomplexa","volume":"115","author":"Lentini","year":"2021","journal-title":"Mol. Microbiol."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e13018","DOI":"10.1111\/cmi.13018","article-title":"Biogenesis and secretion of micronemes in Toxoplasma gondii","volume":"21","author":"Dubois","year":"2019","journal-title":"Cell. Microbiol."},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"425","DOI":"10.1038\/s41564-020-00854-z","article-title":"An Alveolata secretory machinery adapted to parasite host-cell invasion","volume":"6","author":"Aquilini","year":"2021","journal-title":"Nat. Microbiol."},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"110006","DOI":"10.1016\/j.vetpar.2023.110006","article-title":"New morphological observations on the initial events of Toxoplasma gondii entry into host cells","volume":"322","author":"Teles","year":"2023","journal-title":"Vet. Parasitol."},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"445","DOI":"10.1002\/wdev.151","article-title":"Cytonemes and the dispersion of morphogens","volume":"3","author":"Kornberg","year":"2014","journal-title":"Wiley Interdiscip. Rev. Dev. Biol."},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1007","DOI":"10.1126\/science.1093133","article-title":"Nanotubular highways for intercellular organelle transport","volume":"303","author":"Rustom","year":"2004","journal-title":"Science"},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"8476","DOI":"10.4049\/jimmunol.177.12.8476","article-title":"Structurally distinct membrane nanotubes between human macrophages support long-distance vesicular traffic or surfing of bacteria","volume":"177","author":"Onfelt","year":"2006","journal-title":"J. Immunol."},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"4258","DOI":"10.1039\/D2NA00415A","article-title":"Revealing the structure and organization of intercellular tunneling nanotubes (TNTs) by STORM imaging","volume":"4","author":"Huang","year":"2022","journal-title":"Nanoscale Adv."},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"455","DOI":"10.1645\/GE-179R","article-title":"Endogenous polyamine levels in macrophages is sufficient to support growth of Toxoplasma gondii","volume":"90","author":"Seabra","year":"2004","journal-title":"J. Parasitol."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"105057","DOI":"10.1016\/j.actatropica.2019.105057","article-title":"Clathrin coated pit dependent pathway for Trypanosoma cruzi internalization into host cells","volume":"199","author":"Reignault","year":"2019","journal-title":"Acta Trop."},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Lou, E., Fujisawa, S., Morozov, A., Barlas, A., Romin, Y., Dogan, Y., Gholami, S., Moreira, A.L., Manova-Todorova, K., and Moore, M.A. (2012). Tunneling nanotubes provide a unique conduit for intercellular transfer of cellular contents in human malignant pleural mesothelioma. PLoS ONE, 7.","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0033093"},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Portes, J., Barrias, E., Travassos, R., Attias, M., and de Souza, W. (2020). Toxoplasma gondii Mechanisms of Entry Into Host Cells. Front. Cell Infect. Microbiol., 10.","DOI":"10.3389\/fcimb.2020.00294"},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"102537","DOI":"10.1016\/j.scr.2021.102537","article-title":"Hypertonic pressure affects the pluripotency and self-renewal of mouse embryonic stem cells","volume":"56","author":"Fan","year":"2021","journal-title":"Stem Cell Res."},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e86067","DOI":"10.7554\/eLife.86067","article-title":"Role of cytoneme structures and extracellular vesicles in Trichomonas vaginalis parasite-parasite communication","volume":"12","author":"Salas","year":"2023","journal-title":"eLife"},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e05096-22","DOI":"10.1128\/spectrum.05096-22","article-title":"Leishmania donovani Exploits Tunneling Nanotubes for Dissemination and Propagation of B Cell Activation","volume":"11","author":"Swaminathan","year":"2023","journal-title":"Microbiol. Spectr."},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Midlej, V., Tenaglia, A.H., Luj\u00e1n, H.D., and de Souza, W. (2024). Tunneling Nanotube-like Structures in Giardia duodenalis. Cells, 13.","DOI":"10.3390\/cells13181538"},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"259","DOI":"10.32604\/biocell.2021.014599","article-title":"Tritrichomonas foetus: New structures by high-resolution scanning Helium ion microscopy","volume":"45","author":"Benchimol","year":"2021","journal-title":"Biocell"},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2194","DOI":"10.1016\/j.febslet.2007.03.071","article-title":"Tunneling Nanotubes: A New Route for the Exchange of Components between Animal Cells","volume":"581","author":"Gerdes","year":"2007","journal-title":"FEBS Lett."}],"container-title":["Microorganisms"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2076-2607\/14\/5\/971\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,30]],"date-time":"2026-04-30T04:10:41Z","timestamp":1777522241000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2076-2607\/14\/5\/971"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,26]]},"references-count":19,"journal-issue":{"issue":"5","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,5]]}},"alternative-id":["microorganisms14050971"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/microorganisms14050971","relation":{},"ISSN":["2076-2607"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2076-2607","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,26]]}}}