In all eukaryotes, intracellular cargo transport contributes to diverse cellular processes that are essential for the survival of the cells. This includes molecular motors, such as myosins that transport cargo along actin tracks and kinesins and dyneins that move along microtubules. We are particularly interested in the cytoplasmic dynein complex that, in mammalian cells, transports a vast diversity of cargoes. We identified homologs of most of the components of this complex in Toxoplasma gondii and undertook its functional characterization. According to the polarity of the subpellicular microtubules, this complex should move cargos towards the apical end of the parasites. We determined that the dynein heavy chain (DHC1) and the dynein light intermediate chain (DLIC) are both individually critical for the lytic cycle of the tachyzoite. Parasites depleted in either of these proteins are defective mostly in the invasion step. A deeper dissection of this step showed that microneme secretion was impacted in these parasites as well as the positioning of the rhoptries and their secretion. These phenotypes are reminiscent of the one described for the dynein light chain DLC8a (PMID: 31206964) which might be part of the same complex or the HOOK-FTS-HIP complex recently described (PMID: 37933960 and PMID: 37093045). By co-immunoprecipitation experiments, we are investigating the composition of the complex and aim to identify new adaptors and cargo proteins.