Acidocalcisome

Acidocalcisomes are rounded electron-dense acidic organelles, rich in calcium and polyphosphate and between 100 nm and 200 nm in diameter.

Acidocalcisomes were originally discovered in Trypanosomes (the causing agents of sleeping sickness and Chagas disease) but have since been found in Toxoplasma gondii (causes toxoplasmosis), Plasmodium (malaria), Chlamydomonas reinhardtii (a green alga), Dictyostelium discoideum (a slime mould), bacteria and human platelets. Their membranes are 6 nm thick and contain a number of protein pumps and antiporters, including aquaporins, ATPases and Ca/H and Na/H antiporters. They may be the only cellular organelle that has been conserved between prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms. They behave differently in different organisms and therefore it may be possible to design drugs that target acidocalcisomes in parasites but not those in the host.