Toxoplasma secretory granules: one population or more?

• Toxoplasma secretory granules: one population or more?
• Are the nucleus-targeted GRA proteins stored within the dense granules of Toxoplasma?
• We revisit the nomenclature of the GRA proteins of Toxoplasma.

In Toxoplasma gondii, dense granules are known as the storage secretory organelles of the so-called GRA proteins (for dense granule proteins), which are destined to the parasitophorous vacuole (PV) and the PV-derived cyst wall. Recently, newly annotated GRA proteins targeted to the host cell nucleus have enlarged this view. Here we provide an update on the latest developments on the Toxoplasma secreted proteins, which to date have been mainly studied at both the tachyzoite and bradyzoite stages, and we point out that recent discoveries could open the issue of a possible, yet uncharacterized, distinct secretory pathway in Toxoplasma.