Crystal structure of the complex between the monomeric form of Toxoplasma gondii surface antigen 1 (SAG1) and a monoclonal antibody that mimics the human immune response

Toxoplasma gondii, the intracellular parasite responsible for toxoplasmosis infects more than one-third of the world population and can be life-threatening for fetuses and immunocompromised patients. The surface protein SAG1 is an important immune target, which provides a strong immune response against the invasive tachyzoite while the other forms of the parasite, devoid of SAG1 at their surface, are multiplying. In addition to this role as a "hot spot" decoy, SAG1 is predicted to act as an adhesin during host-cell attachment through its binding to proteoglycans. To begin to understand the relationships between SAG1 epitopes and the ligand-binding site, we have solved the crystal structure of the monomeric form of T. gondii SAG1 complexed to a Fab derived from a monoclonal antibody raised against tachyzoite particles. This antibody competes strongly with human Toxoplasma-specific sera, suggesting that its epitope is part of an immunodominant region present on the surface of SAG1. The structure reveals that this conformational epitope, located within the SAG1 N-terminal domain, does not overlap with the proposed ligand-binding pocket. This study provides the first structural description of the monomeric form of SAG1, and significant insights into its dual role of adhesin and immune target during parasite infection.