Rhoptryassociated
Rhoptry-associated proteins, or RAPs, are a family of secreted proteins associated with the rhoptries, specialized apical organelles in many apicomplexan parasites such as Plasmodium species and Toxoplasma gondii. These proteins are released during the encounter and invasion of a host cell and are implicated in the early events that establish the parasite’s intracellular niche, including modification of the parasitophorous vacuole and initial host–parasite interactions.
Rhoptries are divided into neck and bulb regions, and RAPs are stored within these organelles and discharged
Functional roles attributed to RAPs include participation in adhesion, triggering and guiding invasion, and manipulation of
Examples of RAPs have been identified in Plasmodium species and in Toxoplasma gondii, among others, and they