1
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Ramos-Soriano J, Holbrow-Wilshaw M, Hunt E, Jiang YJ, Peñalver P, Morales JC, Galan MC. Probing the binding and antiparasitic efficacy of azobenzene G-quadruplex ligands to investigate G4 ligand design. Chem Commun (Camb) 2024. [PMID: 39308448 PMCID: PMC11418008 DOI: 10.1039/d4cc03106g] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/25/2024] [Accepted: 09/10/2024] [Indexed: 09/25/2024]
Abstract
Novel strategies against parasitic infections are of great importance. Here, we describe a G4 DNA ligand with subnanomolar antiparasitic activity against T. brucei and a remarkable selectivity index (IC50 MRC-5/T. brucei) of 2285-fold. We also correlate the impact of small structural changes to G4 binding activity and antiparasitic activity.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Eliza Hunt
- School of Chemistry, Cantock's Close, University of Bristol, BS8 1TS, UK
| | - Y Jennifer Jiang
- School of Chemistry, Cantock's Close, University of Bristol, BS8 1TS, UK
| | - Pablo Peñalver
- Instituto de Parasitología y Biomedicina López Neyra, CSIC, PTS Granada, Avenida del Conocimiento, 17, 18016, Armilla, Granada, Spain.
| | - Juan C Morales
- Instituto de Parasitología y Biomedicina López Neyra, CSIC, PTS Granada, Avenida del Conocimiento, 17, 18016, Armilla, Granada, Spain.
| | - M Carmen Galan
- School of Chemistry, Cantock's Close, University of Bristol, BS8 1TS, UK
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2
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Mendes IC, Dos Reis Bertoldo W, Miranda-Junior AS, Assis AVD, Repolês BM, Ferreira WRR, Chame DF, Souza DDL, Pavani RS, Macedo AM, Franco GR, Serra E, Perdomo V, Menck CFM, da Silva Leandro G, Fragoso SP, Barbosa Elias MCQ, Machado CR. DNA lesions that block transcription induce the death of Trypanosoma cruzi via ATR activation, which is dependent on the presence of R-loops. DNA Repair (Amst) 2024; 141:103726. [PMID: 39096697 DOI: 10.1016/j.dnarep.2024.103726] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2023] [Revised: 06/25/2024] [Accepted: 07/07/2024] [Indexed: 08/05/2024]
Abstract
Trypanosoma cruzi is the etiological agent of Chagas disease and a peculiar eukaryote with unique biological characteristics. DNA damage can block RNA polymerase, activating transcription-coupled nucleotide excision repair (TC-NER), a DNA repair pathway specialized in lesions that compromise transcription. If transcriptional stress is unresolved, arrested RNA polymerase can activate programmed cell death. Nonetheless, how this parasite modulates these processes is unknown. Here, we demonstrate that T. cruzi cell death after UV irradiation, a genotoxic agent that generates lesions resolved by TC-NER, depends on active transcription and is signaled mainly by an apoptotic-like pathway. Pre-treated parasites with α-amanitin, a selective RNA polymerase II inhibitor, become resistant to such cell death. Similarly, the gamma pre-irradiated cells are more resistant to UV when the transcription processes are absent. The Cockayne Syndrome B protein (CSB) recognizes blocked RNA polymerase and can initiate TC-NER. Curiously, CSB overexpression increases parasites' cell death shortly after UV exposure. On the other hand, at the same time after irradiation, the single-knockout CSB cells show resistance to the same treatment. UV-induced fast death is signalized by the exposition of phosphatidylserine to the outer layer of the membrane, indicating a cell death mainly by an apoptotic-like pathway. Furthermore, such death is suppressed in WT parasites pre-treated with inhibitors of ataxia telangiectasia and Rad3-related (ATR), a key DDR kinase. Signaling for UV radiation death may be related to R-loops since the overexpression of genes associated with the resolution of these structures suppress it. Together, results suggest that transcription blockage triggered by UV radiation activates an ATR-dependent apoptosis-like mechanism in T. cruzi, with the participation of CSB protein in this process.
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Affiliation(s)
- Isabela Cecilia Mendes
- Departamento de Bioquímica e Imunologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas (ICB), Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG 30161-970, Brazil
| | - Willian Dos Reis Bertoldo
- Departamento de Bioquímica e Imunologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas (ICB), Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG 30161-970, Brazil
| | - Adalberto Sales Miranda-Junior
- Departamento de Bioquímica e Imunologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas (ICB), Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG 30161-970, Brazil
| | - Antônio Vinícius de Assis
- Departamento de Bioquímica e Imunologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas (ICB), Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG 30161-970, Brazil
| | - Bruno Marçal Repolês
- Departamento de Bioquímica e Imunologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas (ICB), Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG 30161-970, Brazil
| | - Wesley Roger Rodrigues Ferreira
- Departamento de Bioquímica e Imunologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas (ICB), Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG 30161-970, Brazil
| | - Daniela Ferreira Chame
- Departamento de Bioquímica e Imunologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas (ICB), Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG 30161-970, Brazil
| | - Daniela De Laet Souza
- Departamento de Bioquímica e Imunologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas (ICB), Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG 30161-970, Brazil
| | - Raphael Souza Pavani
- Laboratório Especial de Ciclo Celular, Instituto Butantan, São Paulo, MG, São Paulo, SP 05503-900, Brazil
| | - Andrea Mara Macedo
- Departamento de Bioquímica e Imunologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas (ICB), Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG 30161-970, Brazil
| | - Glória Regina Franco
- Departamento de Bioquímica e Imunologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas (ICB), Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG 30161-970, Brazil
| | - Esteban Serra
- Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Rosario, CONICET, 2000 Rosario, Santa Fe, Argentina; Facultad de Ciencias Bioquímicas y Farmacéuticas, Universidad Nacional de Rosario, 2000 Rosario, Santa Fe, Argentina
| | - Virginia Perdomo
- Facultad de Ciencias Bioquímicas y Farmacéuticas, Universidad Nacional de Rosario, 2000 Rosario, Santa Fe, Argentina
| | - Carlos Frederico Martins Menck
- Departamento de Microbiologia, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas (ICB), Universidade de São Paulo (USP), São Paulo, SP 05508-900, Brazil
| | - Giovana da Silva Leandro
- Departamento de Microbiologia, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas (ICB), Universidade de São Paulo (USP), São Paulo, SP 05508-900, Brazil
| | | | | | - Carlos Renato Machado
- Departamento de Bioquímica e Imunologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas (ICB), Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG 30161-970, Brazil.
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3
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Matiz-González JM, Pardo-Rodriguez D, Puerta CJ, Requena JM, Nocua PA, Cuervo C. Exploring the functionality and conservation of Alba proteins in Trypanosoma cruzi: A focus on biological diversity and RNA binding ability. Int J Biol Macromol 2024; 272:132705. [PMID: 38810850 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2024.132705] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2023] [Revised: 05/07/2024] [Accepted: 05/26/2024] [Indexed: 05/31/2024]
Abstract
Trypanosoma cruzi is the causative agent of Chagas disease, as well as a trypanosomatid parasite with a complex biological cycle that requires precise mechanisms for regulating gene expression. In Trypanosomatidae, gene regulation occurs mainly at the mRNA level through the recognition of cis elements by RNA-binding proteins (RBPs). Alba family members are ubiquitous DNA/RNA-binding proteins with representatives in trypanosomatid parasites functionally related to gene expression regulation. Although T. cruzi possesses two groups of Alba proteins (Alba1/2 and Alba30/40), their functional role remains poorly understood. Thus, herein, a characterization of T. cruzi Alba (TcAlba) proteins was undertaken. Physicochemical, structural, and phylogenetic analysis of TcAlba showed features compatible with RBPs, such as hydrophilicity, RBP domains/motifs, and evolutionary conservation of the Alba-domain, mainly regarding other trypanosomatid Alba. However, in silico RNA interaction analysis of T. cruzi Alba proteins showed that TcAlba30/40 proteins, but not TcAlba1/2, would directly interact with the assayed RNA molecules, suggesting that these two groups of TcAlba proteins have different targets. Given the marked differences existing between both T. cruzi Alba groups (TcAlba1/2 and TcAlba30/40), regarding sequence divergence, RNA binding potential, and life-cycle expression patterns, we suggest that they would be involved in different biological processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- J Manuel Matiz-González
- Grupo de Enfermedades Infecciosas, Facultad de Ciencias, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, 110231 Bogotá, Colombia
| | - Daniel Pardo-Rodriguez
- Grupo de Fitoquímica, Facultad de Ciencias, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, 110231 Bogotá, Colombia; Metabolomics Core Facility, Vice-Presidency for Research, Universidad de los Andes, 111711 Bogotá, Colombia
| | - Concepción J Puerta
- Grupo de Enfermedades Infecciosas, Facultad de Ciencias, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, 110231 Bogotá, Colombia
| | - José M Requena
- Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa (CSIC-UAM), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049 Madrid, Spain
| | - Paola A Nocua
- Grupo de Enfermedades Infecciosas, Facultad de Ciencias, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, 110231 Bogotá, Colombia.
| | - Claudia Cuervo
- Grupo de Enfermedades Infecciosas, Facultad de Ciencias, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, 110231 Bogotá, Colombia.
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4
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Assis R, Conant G, Holland B, Liberles DA, O'Reilly MM, Wilson AE. Models for the retention of duplicate genes and their biological underpinnings. F1000Res 2024; 12:1400. [PMID: 38173826 PMCID: PMC10762295 DOI: 10.12688/f1000research.141786.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 02/08/2024] [Indexed: 01/05/2024] Open
Abstract
Gene content in genomes changes through several different processes, with gene duplication being an important contributor to such changes. Gene duplication occurs over a range of scales from individual genes to whole genomes, and the dynamics of this process can be context dependent. Still, there are rules by which genes are retained or lost from genomes after duplication, and probabilistic modeling has enabled characterization of these rules, including their context-dependence. Here, we describe the biology and corresponding mathematical models that are used to understand duplicate gene retention and its contribution to the set of biochemical functions encoded in a genome.
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Affiliation(s)
- Raquel Assis
- Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida, USA
| | - Gavin Conant
- North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA
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5
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Wilson AE, Liberles DA. Expectations of duplicate gene retention under the gene duplicability hypothesis. BMC Ecol Evol 2023; 23:76. [PMID: 38097959 PMCID: PMC10720195 DOI: 10.1186/s12862-023-02174-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2022] [Accepted: 11/02/2023] [Indexed: 12/17/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Gene duplication is an important process in evolution. What causes some genes to be retained after duplication and others to be lost is a process not well understood. The most prevalent theory is the gene duplicability hypothesis, that something about the function and number of interacting partners (number of subunits of protein complex, etc.), determines whether copies have more opportunity to be retained for long evolutionary periods. Some genes are also more susceptible to dosage balance effects following WGD events, making them more likely to be retained for longer periods of time. One would expect these processes that affect the retention of duplicate copies to affect the conditional probability ratio after consecutive whole genome duplication events. The probability that a gene will be retained after a second whole genome duplication event (WGD2), given that it was retained after the first whole genome duplication event (WGD1) versus the probability a gene will be retained after WGD2, given it was lost after WGD1 defines the probability ratio that is calculated. RESULTS Since duplicate gene retention is a time heterogeneous process, the time between the events (t1) and the time since the most recent event (t2) are relevant factors in calculating the expectation for observation in any genome. Here, we use a survival analysis framework to predict the probability ratio for genomes with different values of t1 and t2 under the gene duplicability hypothesis, that some genes are more susceptible to selectable functional shifts, some more susceptible to dosage compensation, and others only drifting. We also predict the probability ratio with different values of t1 and t2 under the mutational opportunity hypothesis, that probability of retention for certain genes changes in subsequent events depending upon how they were previously retained. These models are nested such that the mutational opportunity model encompasses the gene duplicability model with shifting duplicability over time. Here we present a formalization of the gene duplicability and mutational opportunity hypotheses to characterize evolutionary dynamics and explanatory power in a recently developed statistical framework. CONCLUSIONS This work presents expectations of the gene duplicability and mutational opportunity hypotheses over time under different sets of assumptions. This expectation will enable formal testing of processes leading to duplicate gene retention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amanda E Wilson
- Department of Biology and Center for Computational Genetics and Genomics, Temple University, 1900 N. 12th Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19122, USA
| | - David A Liberles
- Department of Biology and Center for Computational Genetics and Genomics, Temple University, 1900 N. 12th Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19122, USA.
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6
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Girasol MJ, Briggs EM, Marques CA, Batista JM, Beraldi D, Burchmore R, Lemgruber L, McCulloch R. Immunoprecipitation of RNA-DNA hybrid interacting proteins in Trypanosoma brucei reveals conserved and novel activities, including in the control of surface antigen expression needed for immune evasion by antigenic variation. Nucleic Acids Res 2023; 51:11123-11141. [PMID: 37843098 PMCID: PMC10639054 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkad836] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2023] [Revised: 09/14/2023] [Accepted: 09/28/2023] [Indexed: 10/17/2023] Open
Abstract
RNA-DNA hybrids are epigenetic features of genomes that provide a diverse and growing range of activities. Understanding of these functions has been informed by characterising the proteins that interact with the hybrids, but all such analyses have so far focused on mammals, meaning it is unclear if a similar spectrum of RNA-DNA hybrid interactors is found in other eukaryotes. The African trypanosome is a single-cell eukaryotic parasite of the Discoba grouping and displays substantial divergence in several aspects of core biology from its mammalian host. Here, we show that DNA-RNA hybrid immunoprecipitation coupled with mass spectrometry recovers 602 putative interactors in T. brucei mammal- and insect-infective cells, some providing activities also found in mammals and some lineage-specific. We demonstrate that loss of three factors, two putative helicases and a RAD51 paralogue, alters T. brucei nuclear RNA-DNA hybrid and DNA damage levels. Moreover, loss of each factor affects the operation of the parasite immune survival mechanism of antigenic variation. Thus, our work reveals the broad range of activities contributed by RNA-DNA hybrids to T. brucei biology, including new functions in host immune evasion as well as activities likely fundamental to eukaryotic genome function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark J Girasol
- University of Glasgow, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, School of Infection and Immunity, Wellcome Centre for Integrative Parasitology, Glasgow, UK
- University of the Philippines Manila, College of Medicine, Manila, Philippines
| | - Emma M Briggs
- University of Glasgow, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, School of Infection and Immunity, Wellcome Centre for Integrative Parasitology, Glasgow, UK
- University of Edinburgh, Institute for Immunology and Infection Research, School of Biological Sciences, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Catarina A Marques
- University of Glasgow, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, School of Infection and Immunity, Wellcome Centre for Integrative Parasitology, Glasgow, UK
| | - José M Batista
- University of Glasgow, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, School of Infection and Immunity, Wellcome Centre for Integrative Parasitology, Glasgow, UK
| | - Dario Beraldi
- University of Glasgow, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, School of Infection and Immunity, Wellcome Centre for Integrative Parasitology, Glasgow, UK
| | - Richard Burchmore
- University of Glasgow, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, School of Infection and Immunity, Wellcome Centre for Integrative Parasitology, Glasgow, UK
| | - Leandro Lemgruber
- University of Glasgow, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, School of Infection and Immunity, Wellcome Centre for Integrative Parasitology, Glasgow, UK
| | - Richard McCulloch
- University of Glasgow, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, School of Infection and Immunity, Wellcome Centre for Integrative Parasitology, Glasgow, UK
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7
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Urán Landaburu L, Didier Garnham M, Agüero F. Targeting trypanosomes: how chemogenomics and artificial intelligence can guide drug discovery. Biochem Soc Trans 2023; 51:195-206. [PMID: 36606702 DOI: 10.1042/bst20220618] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2022] [Revised: 12/01/2022] [Accepted: 12/05/2022] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Abstract
Trypanosomatids are protozoan parasites that cause human and animal neglected diseases. Despite global efforts, effective treatments are still much needed. Phenotypic screens have provided several chemical leads for drug discovery, but the mechanism of action for many of these chemicals is currently unknown. Recently, chemogenomic screens assessing the susceptibility or resistance of parasites carrying genome-wide modifications started to define the mechanism of action of drugs at large scale. In this review, we discuss how genomics is being used for drug discovery in trypanosomatids, how integration of chemical and genomics data from these and other organisms has guided prioritisations of candidate therapeutic targets and additional chemical starting points, and how these data can fuel the expansion of drug discovery pipelines into the era of artificial intelligence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lionel Urán Landaburu
- Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas (IIB), Universidad Nacional de San Martín (UNSAM) - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), San Martín, Argentina
- Escuela de Bio y Nanociencias (EByN), Universidad Nacional de San Martín, San Martín, Argentina
| | - Mercedes Didier Garnham
- Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas (IIB), Universidad Nacional de San Martín (UNSAM) - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), San Martín, Argentina
- Escuela de Bio y Nanociencias (EByN), Universidad Nacional de San Martín, San Martín, Argentina
| | - Fernán Agüero
- Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas (IIB), Universidad Nacional de San Martín (UNSAM) - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), San Martín, Argentina
- Escuela de Bio y Nanociencias (EByN), Universidad Nacional de San Martín, San Martín, Argentina
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8
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Jeilani M, Billington K, Sunter JD, Dean S, Wheeler RJ. Nucleolar targeting in an early-branching eukaryote suggests a general mechanism for ribosome protein sorting. J Cell Sci 2022; 135:jcs259701. [PMID: 36052646 PMCID: PMC9659390 DOI: 10.1242/jcs.259701] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2021] [Accepted: 08/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
The compartmentalised eukaryotic cell demands accurate targeting of proteins to the organelles in which they function, whether membrane-bound (like the nucleus) or non-membrane-bound (like the nucleolus). Nucleolar targeting relies on positively charged localisation signals and has received rejuvenated interest since the widespread recognition of liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) as a mechanism contributing to nucleolus formation. Here, we exploit a new genome-wide analysis of protein localisation in the early-branching eukaryote Trypanosoma brucei to analyse general nucleolar protein properties. T. brucei nucleolar proteins have similar properties to those in common model eukaryotes, specifically basic amino acids. Using protein truncations and addition of candidate targeting sequences to proteins, we show both homopolymer runs and distributed basic amino acids give nucleolar partition, further aided by a nuclear localisation signal (NLS). These findings are consistent with phase separation models of nucleolar formation and physical protein properties being a major contributing mechanism for eukaryotic nucleolar targeting, conserved from the last eukaryotic common ancestor. Importantly, cytoplasmic ribosome proteins, unlike mitochondrial ribosome proteins, have more basic residues - pointing to adaptation of physicochemical properties to assist segregation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Milad Jeilani
- Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3RE, UK
| | - Karen Billington
- Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3RE, UK
- Department of Biological and Medical Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford OX3 0BP, UK
| | - Jack Daniel Sunter
- Department of Biological and Medical Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford OX3 0BP, UK
| | - Samuel Dean
- Warwick Medical School, Warwick University, Warwick CV4 7AL, UK
| | - Richard John Wheeler
- Peter Medawar Building for Pathogen Research, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3SY, UK
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9
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Maree JP, Tvardovskiy A, Ravnsborg T, Jensen ON, Rudenko G, Patterton HG. Trypanosoma brucei histones are heavily modified with combinatorial post-translational modifications and mark Pol II transcription start regions with hyperacetylated H2A. Nucleic Acids Res 2022; 50:9705-9723. [PMID: 36095123 PMCID: PMC9508842 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkac759] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2022] [Revised: 08/09/2022] [Accepted: 08/30/2022] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Trypanosomes diverged from the main eukaryotic lineage about 600 million years ago, and display some unusual genomic and epigenetic properties that provide valuable insight into the early processes employed by eukaryotic ancestors to regulate chromatin-mediated functions. We analysed Trypanosoma brucei core histones by high mass accuracy middle-down mass spectrometry to map core histone post-translational modifications (PTMs) and elucidate cis-histone combinatorial PTMs (cPTMs). T. brucei histones are heavily modified and display intricate cPTMs patterns, with numerous hypermodified cPTMs that could contribute to the formation of non-repressive euchromatic states. The Trypanosoma brucei H2A C-terminal tail is hyperacetylated, containing up to five acetylated lysine residues. MNase-ChIP-seq revealed a striking enrichment of hyperacetylated H2A at Pol II transcription start regions, and showed that H2A histones that are hyperacetylated in different combinations localised to different genomic regions, suggesting distinct epigenetic functions. Our genomics and proteomics data provide insight into the complex epigenetic mechanisms used by this parasite to regulate a genome that lacks the transcriptional control mechanisms found in later-branched eukaryotes. The findings further demonstrate the complexity of epigenetic mechanisms that were probably shared with the last eukaryotic common ancestor.
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Affiliation(s)
- Johannes P Maree
- Department of Biochemistry, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch 7600, South Africa
| | - Andrey Tvardovskiy
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, VILLUM Center for Bioanalytical Sciences, and Center for Epigenetics, University of Southern Denmark, Odense M DK-5230, Denmark
| | - Tina Ravnsborg
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, VILLUM Center for Bioanalytical Sciences, and Center for Epigenetics, University of Southern Denmark, Odense M DK-5230, Denmark
| | - Ole N Jensen
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, VILLUM Center for Bioanalytical Sciences, and Center for Epigenetics, University of Southern Denmark, Odense M DK-5230, Denmark
| | - Gloria Rudenko
- Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK
| | - Hugh-G Patterton
- Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch 7600, South Africa
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10
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López-Escobar L, Hänisch B, Halliday C, Ishii M, Akiyoshi B, Dean S, Sunter JD, Wheeler RJ, Gull K. Stage-specific transcription activator ESB1 regulates monoallelic antigen expression in Trypanosoma brucei. Nat Microbiol 2022; 7:1280-1290. [PMID: 35879525 PMCID: PMC9352583 DOI: 10.1038/s41564-022-01175-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/21/2021] [Accepted: 06/14/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Variant surface glycoprotein (VSG) coats bloodstream form Trypanosoma brucei parasites, and monoallelic VSG expression underpins the antigenic variation necessary for pathogenicity. One of thousands of VSG genes is transcribed by RNA polymerase I in a singular nuclear structure called the expression site body (ESB), but how monoallelic VSG transcription is achieved remains unclear. Using a localization screen of 153 proteins we found one, ESB-specific protein 1 (ESB1), that localized only to the ESB and is expressed only in VSG-expressing life cycle stages. ESB1 associates with DNA near the active VSG promoter and is necessary for VSG expression, with overexpression activating inactive VSG promoters. Mechanistically, ESB1 is necessary for recruitment of a subset of ESB components, including RNA polymerase I, revealing that the ESB has separately assembled subdomains. Because many trypanosomatid parasites have divergent ESB1 orthologues yet do not undergo antigenic variation, ESB1 probably represents an important class of transcription regulators.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Benjamin Hänisch
- Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Clare Halliday
- Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Midori Ishii
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Bungo Akiyoshi
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Samuel Dean
- Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.,Division of Biomedical Sciences, Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK
| | - Jack Daniel Sunter
- Department of Biological and Medical Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, UK.
| | | | - Keith Gull
- Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
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11
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Hansberg W. A critical analysis on the conception of "Pre-existent gene expression programs" for cell differentiation and development. Differentiation 2022; 125:1-8. [DOI: 10.1016/j.diff.2022.02.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2021] [Revised: 02/17/2022] [Accepted: 02/23/2022] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
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12
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Oldrieve GR, Malacart B, López-Vidal J, Matthews KR. The genomic basis of host and vector specificity in non-pathogenic trypanosomatids. Biol Open 2022; 11:bio059237. [PMID: 35373253 PMCID: PMC9099014 DOI: 10.1242/bio.059237] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2022] [Accepted: 03/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Trypanosoma theileri, a non-pathogenic parasite of bovines, has a predicted surface protein architecture that likely aids survival in its mammalian host. Their surface proteins are encoded by genes which account for ∼10% of their genome. A non-pathogenic parasite of sheep, Trypanosoma melophagium, is transmitted by the sheep ked and is closely related to T. theileri. To explore host and vector specificity between these species, we sequenced the T. melophagium genome and transcriptome and an annotated draft genome was assembled. T. melophagium was compared to 43 kinetoplastid genomes, including T. theileri. T. melophagium and T. theileri have an AT biased genome, the greatest bias of publicly available trypanosomatids. This trend may result from selection acting to decrease the genomic nucleotide cost. The T. melophagium genome is 6.3Mb smaller than T. theileri and large families of proteins, characteristic of the predicted surface of T. theileri, were found to be absent or greatly reduced in T. melophagium. Instead, T. melophagium has modestly expanded protein families associated with the avoidance of complement-mediated lysis. We propose that the contrasting genomic features of these species is linked to their mode of transmission from their insect vector to their mammalian host. This article has an associated First Person interview with the first author of the paper.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guy R. Oldrieve
- Institute of Immunology and Infection Research, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3FL, UK
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13
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Kasozi KI, MacLeod ET, Ntulume I, Welburn SC. An Update on African Trypanocide Pharmaceutics and Resistance. Front Vet Sci 2022; 9:828111. [PMID: 35356785 PMCID: PMC8959112 DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2022.828111] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/03/2021] [Accepted: 01/12/2022] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
African trypanosomiasis is associated with Trypanosoma evansi, T. vivax, T. congolense, and T. brucei pathogens in African animal trypanosomiasis (AAT) while T. b gambiense and T. b rhodesiense are responsible for chronic and acute human African trypanosomiasis (HAT), respectively. Suramin sodium suppresses ATP generation during the glycolytic pathway and is ineffective against T. vivax and T. congolense infections. Resistance to suramin is associated with pathogen altered transport proteins. Melarsoprol binds irreversibly with pyruvate kinase protein sulfhydryl groups and neutralizes enzymes which interrupts the trypanosome ATP generation. Melarsoprol resistance is associated with the adenine-adenosine transporter, P2, due to point mutations within this transporter. Eflornithine is used in combination with nifurtimox. Resistance to eflornithine is caused by the deletion or mutation of TbAAT6 gene which encodes the transmembrane amino acid transporter that delivers eflornithine into the cell, thus loss of transporter protein results in eflornithine resistance. Nifurtimox alone is regarded as a poor trypanocide, however, it is effective in melarsoprol-resistant gHAT patients. Resistance is associated with loss of a single copy of the genes encoding for nitroreductase enzymes. Fexinidazole is recommended for first-stage and non-severe second-stage illnesses in gHAT and resistance is associated with trypanosome bacterial nitroreductases which reduce fexinidazole. In AAT, quinapyramine sulfate interferes with DNA synthesis and suppression of cytoplasmic ribosomal activity in the mitochondria. Quinapyramine sulfate resistance is due to variations in the potential of the parasite's mitochondrial membrane. Pentamidines create cross-links between two adenines at 4–5 pairs apart in adenine-thymine-rich portions of Trypanosoma DNA. It also suppresses type II topoisomerase in the mitochondria of Trypanosoma parasites. Pentamidine resistance is due to loss of mitochondria transport proteins P2 and HAPT1. Diamidines are most effective against Trypanosome brucei group and act via the P2/TbAT1 transporters. Diminazene aceturate resistance is due to mutations that alter the activity of P2, TeDR40 (T. b. evansi). Isometamidium chloride is primarily employed in the early stages of trypanosomiasis and resistance is associated with diminazene resistance. Phenanthridine (homidium bromide, also known as ethidium bromide) acts by a breakdown of the kinetoplast network and homidium resistance is comparable to isometamidium. In humans, the development of resistance and adverse side effects against monotherapies has led to the adoption of nifurtimox-eflornithine combination therapy. Current efforts to develop new prodrug combinations of nifurtimox and eflornithine and nitroimidazole fexinidazole as well as benzoxaborole SCYX-7158 (AN5568) for HAT are in progress while little comparable progress has been done for the development of novel therapies to address trypanocide resistance in AAT.
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Affiliation(s)
- Keneth Iceland Kasozi
- Infection Medicine, Deanery of Biomedical Sciences, College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
- School of Medicine, Kabale University, Kabale, Uganda
- *Correspondence: Keneth Iceland Kasozi ;
| | - Ewan Thomas MacLeod
- Infection Medicine, Deanery of Biomedical Sciences, College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| | - Ibrahim Ntulume
- School of Biosecurity Biotechnical and Laboratory Sciences, College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda
| | - Susan Christina Welburn
- Infection Medicine, Deanery of Biomedical Sciences, College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
- Zhejiang University-University of Edinburgh Joint Institute, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
- Susan Christina Welburn
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14
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Cordon-Obras C, Gomez-Liñan C, Torres-Rusillo S, Vidal-Cobo I, Lopez-Farfan D, Barroso-Del Jesus A, Rojas-Barros D, Carrington M, Navarro M. Identification of sequence-specific promoters driving polycistronic transcription initiation by RNA polymerase II in trypanosomes. Cell Rep 2022; 38:110221. [PMID: 35021094 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2021.110221] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2021] [Revised: 10/18/2021] [Accepted: 12/15/2021] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Protein-coding genes in trypanosomes occur in polycistronic transcription units (PTUs). How RNA polymerase II (Pol II) initiates transcription of PTUs has not been resolved; the current model favors chromatin modifications inducing transcription rather than sequence-specific promoters. Here, we uncover core promoters by functional characterization of Pol II peaks identified by chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing (ChIP-seq). Two distinct promoters are located between divergent PTUs, each driving unidirectional transcription. Detailed analysis identifies a 75-bp promoter that is necessary and sufficient to drive full reporter expression and contains functional motifs. Analysis of further promoters suggests transcription initiation is regulated and promoters are either focused or dispersed. In contrast to the previous model of unregulated and promoter-independent transcription initiation, we find that sequence-specific promoters determine the initiation of Pol II transcription of protein-coding genes PTUs. These findings in Trypanosoma brucei suggest that in addition of chromatin modifications, promoter motifs-based regulation of gene expression is deeply conserved among eukaryotes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carlos Cordon-Obras
- Instituto de Parasitología y Biomedicina López Neyra, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, IPBLN-CSIC, 18016 Granada, Spain
| | - Claudia Gomez-Liñan
- Instituto de Parasitología y Biomedicina López Neyra, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, IPBLN-CSIC, 18016 Granada, Spain
| | - Sara Torres-Rusillo
- Instituto de Parasitología y Biomedicina López Neyra, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, IPBLN-CSIC, 18016 Granada, Spain
| | - Isabel Vidal-Cobo
- Instituto de Parasitología y Biomedicina López Neyra, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, IPBLN-CSIC, 18016 Granada, Spain
| | - Diana Lopez-Farfan
- Instituto de Parasitología y Biomedicina López Neyra, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, IPBLN-CSIC, 18016 Granada, Spain
| | - Alicia Barroso-Del Jesus
- Instituto de Parasitología y Biomedicina López Neyra, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, IPBLN-CSIC, 18016 Granada, Spain
| | - Domingo Rojas-Barros
- Instituto de Parasitología y Biomedicina López Neyra, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, IPBLN-CSIC, 18016 Granada, Spain
| | - Mark Carrington
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1QW, UK
| | - Miguel Navarro
- Instituto de Parasitología y Biomedicina López Neyra, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, IPBLN-CSIC, 18016 Granada, Spain.
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15
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Staneva DP, Bresson S, Auchynnikava T, Spanos C, Rappsilber J, Jeyaprakash AA, Tollervey D, Matthews KR, Allshire RC. The SPARC complex defines RNAPII promoters in Trypanosoma brucei. eLife 2022; 11:83135. [PMID: 36169304 PMCID: PMC9566855 DOI: 10.7554/elife.83135] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2022] [Accepted: 09/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Kinetoplastids are a highly divergent lineage of eukaryotes with unusual mechanisms for regulating gene expression. We previously surveyed 65 putative chromatin factors in the kinetoplastid Trypanosoma brucei. Our analyses revealed that the predicted histone methyltransferase SET27 and the Chromodomain protein CRD1 are tightly concentrated at RNAPII transcription start regions (TSRs). Here, we report that SET27 and CRD1, together with four previously uncharacterized constituents, form the SET27 promoter-associated regulatory complex (SPARC), which is specifically enriched at TSRs. SET27 loss leads to aberrant RNAPII recruitment to promoter sites, accumulation of polyadenylated transcripts upstream of normal transcription start sites, and conversion of some normally unidirectional promoters to bidirectional promoters. Transcriptome analysis in the absence of SET27 revealed upregulated mRNA expression in the vicinity of SPARC peaks within the main body of chromosomes in addition to derepression of genes encoding variant surface glycoproteins (VSGs) located in subtelomeric regions. These analyses uncover a novel chromatin-associated complex required to establish accurate promoter position and directionality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Desislava P Staneva
- Wellcome Centre for Cell Biology, University of EdinburghEdinburghUnited Kingdom,Institute of Immunology and Infection Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of EdinburghEdinburghUnited Kingdom
| | - Stefan Bresson
- Wellcome Centre for Cell Biology, University of EdinburghEdinburghUnited Kingdom
| | | | - Christos Spanos
- Wellcome Centre for Cell Biology, University of EdinburghEdinburghUnited Kingdom
| | - Juri Rappsilber
- Wellcome Centre for Cell Biology, University of EdinburghEdinburghUnited Kingdom,Institute of Biotechnology, Technische UniversitätBerlinGermany
| | | | - David Tollervey
- Wellcome Centre for Cell Biology, University of EdinburghEdinburghUnited Kingdom
| | - Keith R Matthews
- Institute of Immunology and Infection Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of EdinburghEdinburghUnited Kingdom
| | - Robin C Allshire
- Wellcome Centre for Cell Biology, University of EdinburghEdinburghUnited Kingdom
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16
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Wheeler RJ. A resource for improved predictions of Trypanosoma and Leishmania protein three-dimensional structure. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0259871. [PMID: 34762696 PMCID: PMC8584756 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0259871] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/09/2021] [Accepted: 10/27/2021] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
AlphaFold2 and RoseTTAfold represent a transformative advance for predicting protein structure. They are able to make very high-quality predictions given a high-quality alignment of the protein sequence with related proteins. These predictions are now readily available via the AlphaFold database of predicted structures and AlphaFold or RoseTTAfold Colaboratory notebooks for custom predictions. However, predictions for some species tend to be lower confidence than model organisms. Problematic species include Trypanosoma cruzi and Leishmania infantum: important unicellular eukaryotic human parasites in an early-branching eukaryotic lineage. The cause appears to be due to poor sampling of this branch of life (Discoba) in the protein sequences databases used for the AlphaFold database and ColabFold. Here, by comprehensively gathering openly available protein sequence data for Discoba species, significant improvements to AlphaFold2 protein structure prediction over the AlphaFold database and ColabFold are demonstrated. This is made available as an easy-to-use tool for the parasitology community in the form of Colaboratory notebooks for generating multiple sequence alignments and AlphaFold2 predictions of protein structure for Trypanosoma, Leishmania and related species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard John Wheeler
- Peter Medawar Building for Pathogen Research, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
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17
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Faria JRC. A nuclear enterprise: zooming in on nuclear organization and gene expression control in the African trypanosome. Parasitology 2021; 148:1237-1253. [PMID: 33407981 PMCID: PMC8311968 DOI: 10.1017/s0031182020002437] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2020] [Revised: 12/22/2020] [Accepted: 12/24/2020] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
African trypanosomes are early divergent protozoan parasites responsible for high mortality and morbidity as well as a great economic burden among the world's poorest populations. Trypanosomes undergo antigenic variation in their mammalian hosts, a highly sophisticated immune evasion mechanism. Their nuclear organization and mechanisms for gene expression control present several conventional features but also a number of striking differences to the mammalian counterparts. Some of these unorthodox characteristics, such as lack of controlled transcription initiation or enhancer sequences, render their monogenic antigen transcription, which is critical for successful antigenic variation, even more enigmatic. Recent technological developments have advanced our understanding of nuclear organization and gene expression control in trypanosomes, opening novel research avenues. This review is focused on Trypanosoma brucei nuclear organization and how it impacts gene expression, with an emphasis on antigen expression. It highlights several dedicated sub-nuclear bodies that compartmentalize specific functions, whilst outlining similarities and differences to more complex eukaryotes. Notably, understanding the mechanisms underpinning antigen as well as general gene expression control is of great importance, as it might help designing effective control strategies against these organisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joana R. C. Faria
- The Wellcome Trust Centre for Anti-Infectives Research, School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dow Street, DundeeDD1 5EH, UK
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18
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Macías F, Afonso-Lehmann R, Carreira PE, Thomas MC. TBP and SNAP50 transcription factors bind specifically to the Pr77 promoter sequence from trypanosomatid non-LTR retrotransposons. Parasit Vectors 2021; 14:313. [PMID: 34108018 PMCID: PMC8190864 DOI: 10.1186/s13071-021-04803-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2021] [Accepted: 05/25/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Trypanosomatid genomes are colonized by active and inactive mobile DNA elements, such as LINE, SINE-like, SIDER and DIRE retrotransposons. These elements all share a 77-nucleotide-long sequence at their 5′ ends, known as Pr77, which activates transcription, thereby generating abundant unspliced and translatable transcripts. However, transcription factors that mediates this process have still not been reported. Methods TATA-binding protein (TBP) and small nuclear RNA-activating protein 50 kDa (SNAP50) recombinant proteins and specific antibodies raised against them were generated. Protein capture assay, electrophoretic mobility-shift assays (EMSA) and EMSA competition assays carried out using these proteins and nuclear proteins of the parasite together to specific DNA sequences used as probes allowed detecting direct interaction of these transcription factors to Pr77 sequence. Results This study identified TBP and SNAP50 as part of the DNA-protein complex formed by the Pr77 promoter sequence and nuclear proteins of Trypanosoma cruzi. TBP establishes direct and specific contact with the Pr77 sequence, where the DPE and DPE downstream regions are docking sites with preferential binding. TBP binds cooperatively (Hill coefficient = 1.67) to Pr77 and to both strands of the Pr77 sequence, while the conformation of this highly structured sequence is not involved in TBP binding. Direct binding of SNAP50 to the Pr77 sequence is weak and may be mediated by protein–protein interactions through other trypanosomatid nuclear proteins. Conclusions Identification of the transcription factors that mediate Pr77 transcription may help to elucidate how these retrotransposons are mobilized within the trypanosomatid genomes and their roles in gene regulation processes in this human parasite. Graphic abstract ![]()
Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13071-021-04803-5.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francisco Macías
- Departamento de Biología Molecular, Instituto de Parasitología y Biomedicina "López Neyra", Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Parque Tecnológico de Ciencias de la Salud, 18016, Granada, Spain
| | - Raquel Afonso-Lehmann
- Departamento de Biología Molecular, Instituto de Parasitología y Biomedicina "López Neyra", Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Parque Tecnológico de Ciencias de la Salud, 18016, Granada, Spain
| | - Patricia E Carreira
- Departamento de Biología Molecular, Instituto de Parasitología y Biomedicina "López Neyra", Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Parque Tecnológico de Ciencias de la Salud, 18016, Granada, Spain.,Mater Research Institute, University of Queensland, TRI Building, Woolloongabba, QLD, 4102, Australia
| | - M Carmen Thomas
- Departamento de Biología Molecular, Instituto de Parasitología y Biomedicina "López Neyra", Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Parque Tecnológico de Ciencias de la Salud, 18016, Granada, Spain.
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19
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Abstract
Transfer RNAs play a key role in protein synthesis. Following transcription, tRNAs are extensively processed prior to their departure from the nucleus to become fully functional during translation. This includes removal of 5′ leaders and 3′ trailers by a specific endo- and/or exonuclease, 3′ CCA tail addition, posttranscriptional modifications and in some cases intron removal. In this minireview, the critical factors of nuclear tRNA trafficking are described based on studies in classical models such as yeast and human cell lines. In addition, recent findings and identification of novel regulatory loops of nuclear tRNA trafficking in trypanosomes are discussed with emphasis on tRNA modifications. The comparison between the representatives of opisthokonts and excavates serves here to understand the evolutionary conservation and diversity of nuclear tRNA export mechanisms.
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20
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Testing the CRISPR-Cas9 and glmS ribozyme systems in Leishmania tarentolae. Mol Biochem Parasitol 2020; 241:111336. [PMID: 33166572 DOI: 10.1016/j.molbiopara.2020.111336] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2020] [Revised: 09/25/2020] [Accepted: 10/28/2020] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
Abstract
Leishmania parasites include important pathogens and model organisms and are even used for the production of recombinant proteins. However, functional genomics and the characterization of essential genes are often limited in Leishmania because of low-throughput technologies for gene disruption or tagging and the absence of components for RNA interference. Here, we tested the T7 RNA polymerase-dependent CRISPR-Cas9 system by Beneke et al. and the glmS ribozyme-based knock-down system in the model parasite Leishmania tarentolae. We successfully deleted two reference genes encoding the flagellar motility factor Pf16 and the salvage-pathway enzyme adenine phosphoribosyltransferase, resulting in immotile and drug-resistant parasites, respectively. In contrast, we were unable to disrupt the gene encoding the mitochondrial flavoprotein Erv. Cultivation of L. tarentolae in standard BHI medium resulted in a constitutive down-regulation of an episomal mCherry-glmS reporter by 40 to 60%. For inducible knock-downs, we evaluated the growth of L. tarentolae in alternative media and identified supplemented MEM, IMDM and McCoy's 5A medium as candidates. Cultivation in supplemented MEM allowed an inducible, glucosamine concentration-dependent down-regulation of the episomal mCherry-glmS reporter by more than 70%. However, chromosomal glmS-tagging of the genes encoding Pf16, adenine phosphoribosyltransferase or Erv did not reveal a knock-down phenotype. Our data demonstrate the suitability of the CRISPR-Cas9 system for the disruption and tagging of genes in L. tarentolae as well as the limitations of the glmS system, which was restricted to moderate efficiencies for episomal knock-downs and caused no detectable phenotype for chromosomal knock-downs.
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21
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da Silva MTA, Silva IRE, Faim LM, Bellini NK, Pereira ML, Lima AL, de Jesus TCL, Costa FC, Watanabe TF, Pereira HD, Valentini SR, Zanelli CF, Borges JC, Dias MVB, da Cunha JPC, Mittra B, Andrews NW, Thiemann OH. Trypanosomatid selenophosphate synthetase structure, function and interaction with selenocysteine lyase. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2020; 14:e0008091. [PMID: 33017394 PMCID: PMC7595633 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0008091] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2020] [Revised: 10/29/2020] [Accepted: 08/03/2020] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Eukaryotes from the Excavata superphylum have been used as models to study the evolution of cellular molecular processes. Strikingly, human parasites of the Trypanosomatidae family (T. brucei, T. cruzi and L. major) conserve the complex machinery responsible for selenocysteine biosynthesis and incorporation in selenoproteins (SELENOK/SelK, SELENOT/SelT and SELENOTryp/SelTryp), although these proteins do not seem to be essential for parasite viability under laboratory controlled conditions. Selenophosphate synthetase (SEPHS/SPS) plays an indispensable role in selenium metabolism, being responsible for catalyzing the formation of selenophosphate, the biological selenium donor for selenocysteine synthesis. We solved the crystal structure of the L. major selenophosphate synthetase and confirmed that its dimeric organization is functionally important throughout the domains of life. We also demonstrated its interaction with selenocysteine lyase (SCLY) and showed that it is not present in other stable assemblies involved in the selenocysteine pathway, namely the phosphoseryl-tRNASec kinase (PSTK)-Sec-tRNASec synthase (SEPSECS) complex and the tRNASec-specific elongation factor (eEFSec) complex. Endoplasmic reticulum stress with dithiothreitol (DTT) or tunicamycin upon selenophosphate synthetase ablation in procyclic T. brucei cells led to a growth defect. On the other hand, only DTT presented a negative effect in bloodstream T. brucei expressing selenophosphate synthetase-RNAi. Furthermore, selenoprotein T (SELENOT) was dispensable for both forms of the parasite. Together, our data suggest a role for the T. brucei selenophosphate synthetase in the regulation of the parasite’s ER stress response. Selenium is both a toxic compound and a micronutrient. As a micronutrient, it participates in the synthesis of specific proteins, selenoproteins, as the amino acid selenocysteine. The synthesis of selenocysteine is present in organisms ranging from bacteria to humans. The protist parasites of the Trypanosomatidae family, that cause major tropical diseases, conserve the complex machinery responsible for selenocysteine biosynthesis and incorporation in selenoproteins. However, this pathway has been considered dispensable for the parasitic protist cells. This has intrigued us, and lead to question that if maintained in the cell it should be under selective pressure and therefore be necessary. Also, extensive and dynamic protein-protein interactions must happen to deliver selenium-containing intermediates along the pathway in order to warrant efficient usage of biological selenium in the cell. In this study we have investigated the molecular interactions of different proteins involved in selenocysteine synthesis and its putative involvement in the endoplasmic reticulum redox homeostasis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marco Túlio Alves da Silva
- Laboratory of Structural Biology, Sao Carlos Institute of Physics, University of São Paulo, São Carlos, SP, Brazil
| | - Ivan Rosa e Silva
- Laboratory of Structural Biology, Sao Carlos Institute of Physics, University of São Paulo, São Carlos, SP, Brazil
| | - Lívia Maria Faim
- Laboratory of Structural Biology, Sao Carlos Institute of Physics, University of São Paulo, São Carlos, SP, Brazil
| | - Natália Karla Bellini
- Laboratory of Structural Biology, Sao Carlos Institute of Physics, University of São Paulo, São Carlos, SP, Brazil
| | - Murilo Leão Pereira
- Laboratory of Structural Biology, Sao Carlos Institute of Physics, University of São Paulo, São Carlos, SP, Brazil
| | - Ana Laura Lima
- Laboratory of Structural Biology, Sao Carlos Institute of Physics, University of São Paulo, São Carlos, SP, Brazil
| | - Teresa Cristina Leandro de Jesus
- Laboratory of Structural Biology, Sao Carlos Institute of Physics, University of São Paulo, São Carlos, SP, Brazil
- Laboratory of Cell Cycle and Center of Toxins, Immune Response and Cell Signaling—CeTICS, Butantan Institute, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
| | - Fernanda Cristina Costa
- Laboratory of Structural Biology, Sao Carlos Institute of Physics, University of São Paulo, São Carlos, SP, Brazil
- London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom
| | - Tatiana Faria Watanabe
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Araraquara, SP, Brazil
| | - Humberto D'Muniz Pereira
- Laboratory of Structural Biology, Sao Carlos Institute of Physics, University of São Paulo, São Carlos, SP, Brazil
| | | | | | - Júlio Cesar Borges
- São Carlos Institute of Chemistry, University of São Paulo, São Carlos, SP, Brazil
| | | | - Júlia Pinheiro Chagas da Cunha
- Laboratory of Cell Cycle and Center of Toxins, Immune Response and Cell Signaling—CeTICS, Butantan Institute, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
| | - Bidyottam Mittra
- Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, United States of America
| | - Norma W. Andrews
- Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, United States of America
| | - Otavio Henrique Thiemann
- Laboratory of Structural Biology, Sao Carlos Institute of Physics, University of São Paulo, São Carlos, SP, Brazil
- Department of Genetics and Evolution, Federal University of São Carlos, São Carlos, SP, Brazil
- * E-mail:
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22
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Rijo-Ferreira F, Takahashi JS. Sleeping Sickness: A Tale of Two Clocks. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2020; 10:525097. [PMID: 33134186 PMCID: PMC7562814 DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2020.525097] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/07/2020] [Accepted: 08/31/2020] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Sleeping sickness is caused by a eukaryotic unicellular parasite known to infect wild animals, cattle, and humans. It causes a fatal disease that disrupts many rhythmic physiological processes, including daily rhythms of hormonal secretion, temperature regulation, and sleep, all of which are under circadian (24-h) control. In this review, we summarize research on sleeping sickness parasite biology and the impact it has on host health. We also consider the possible evolutionary advantages of sleep and circadian deregulation for the parasite.
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Affiliation(s)
- Filipa Rijo-Ferreira
- Department of Neuroscience, Peter O'Donnell Jr. Brain Institute, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States.,Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States
| | - Joseph S Takahashi
- Department of Neuroscience, Peter O'Donnell Jr. Brain Institute, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States.,Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States
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23
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de Araujo CB, da Cunha JPC, Inada DT, Damasceno J, Lima ARJ, Hiraiwa P, Marques C, Gonçalves E, Nishiyama-Junior MY, McCulloch R, Elias MC. Replication origin location might contribute to genetic variability in Trypanosoma cruzi. BMC Genomics 2020; 21:414. [PMID: 32571205 PMCID: PMC7310030 DOI: 10.1186/s12864-020-06803-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2019] [Accepted: 06/05/2020] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Background DNA replication in trypanosomatids operates in a uniquely challenging environment, since most of their genomes are constitutively transcribed. Trypanosoma cruzi, the etiological agent of Chagas disease, presents high variability in both chromosomes size and copy number among strains, though the underlying mechanisms are unknown. Results Here we have mapped sites of DNA replication initiation across the T. cruzi genome using Marker Frequency Analysis, which has previously only been deployed in two related trypanosomatids. The putative origins identified in T. cruzi show a notable enrichment of GC content, a preferential position at subtelomeric regions, coinciding with genes transcribed towards the telomeres, and a pronounced enrichment within coding DNA sequences, most notably in genes from the Dispersed Gene Family 1 (DGF-1). Conclusions These findings suggest a scenario where collisions between DNA replication and transcription are frequent, leading to increased genetic variability, as seen by the increase SNP levels at chromosome subtelomeres and in DGF-1 genes containing putative origins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christiane Bezerra de Araujo
- Laboratório de Ciclo Celular, Instituto Butantan, São Paulo, Brazil.,Center of Toxins, Immune Response and Cell Signaling (CeTICS), Instituto Butantan, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Julia Pinheiro Chagas da Cunha
- Laboratório de Ciclo Celular, Instituto Butantan, São Paulo, Brazil. .,Center of Toxins, Immune Response and Cell Signaling (CeTICS), Instituto Butantan, São Paulo, Brazil.
| | - Davi Toshio Inada
- Laboratório de Ciclo Celular, Instituto Butantan, São Paulo, Brazil.,Center of Toxins, Immune Response and Cell Signaling (CeTICS), Instituto Butantan, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Jeziel Damasceno
- The Wellcome Centre for Molecular Parasitology, Institute of Infection, Immunity and Inflammation, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK
| | - Alex Ranieri Jerônimo Lima
- Laboratório de Tecnologia Biomolecular - Bioinformática, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém, Brazil
| | | | - Catarina Marques
- The Wellcome Centre for Molecular Parasitology, Institute of Infection, Immunity and Inflammation, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK
| | - Evonnildo Gonçalves
- Laboratório de Tecnologia Biomolecular - Bioinformática, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém, Brazil
| | - Milton Yutaka Nishiyama-Junior
- Center of Toxins, Immune Response and Cell Signaling (CeTICS), Instituto Butantan, São Paulo, Brazil.,Laboratório Especial de Toxinologia Aplicada, Instituto Butantan, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Richard McCulloch
- The Wellcome Centre for Molecular Parasitology, Institute of Infection, Immunity and Inflammation, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK
| | - Maria Carolina Elias
- Laboratório de Ciclo Celular, Instituto Butantan, São Paulo, Brazil. .,Center of Toxins, Immune Response and Cell Signaling (CeTICS), Instituto Butantan, São Paulo, Brazil.
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24
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Franco CH, Warhurst DC, Bhattacharyya T, Au HYA, Le H, Giardini MA, Pascoalino BS, Torrecilhas AC, Romera LMD, Madeira RP, Schenkman S, Freitas-Junior LH, Chatelain E, Miles MA, Moraes CB. Novel structural CYP51 mutation in Trypanosoma cruzi associated with multidrug resistance to CYP51 inhibitors and reduced infectivity. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR PARASITOLOGY-DRUGS AND DRUG RESISTANCE 2020; 13:107-120. [PMID: 32688218 PMCID: PMC7369355 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpddr.2020.06.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2019] [Revised: 05/29/2020] [Accepted: 06/04/2020] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Ergosterol biosynthesis inhibitors, such as posaconazole and ravuconazole, have been proposed as drug candidates for Chagas disease, a neglected infectious tropical disease caused by the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi. To understand better the mechanism of action and resistance to these inhibitors, a clone of the T. cruzi Y strain was cultured under intermittent and increasing concentrations of ravuconazole until phenotypic stability was achieved. The ravuconazole-selected clone exhibited loss in fitness in vitro when compared to the wild-type parental clone, as observed in reduced invasion capacity and slowed population growth in both mammalian and insect stages of the parasite. In drug activity assays, the resistant clone was above 300-fold more tolerant to ravuconazole than the sensitive parental clone, when the half-maximum effective concentration (EC50) was considered. The resistant clones also showed reduced virulence in vivo, when compared to parental sensitive clones. Cross-resistance to posaconazole and other CYP51 inhibitors, but not to other antichagasic drugs that act independently of CYP51, such as benznidazole and nifurtimox, was also observed. A novel amino acid residue change, T297M, was found in the TcCYP51 gene in the resistant but not in the sensitive clones. The structural effects of the T297M, and of the previously described P355S residue changes, were modelled to understand their impact on interaction with CYP51 inhibitors. A ravuconazole-resistant T. cruzi clone presented reduced in vitro and in vivo fitness. The ravuconazole-resistant clone presented cross-resistance to other CYP51 inhibitors. There was no cross-resistance to benznidazole and nifurtimox. Resistance is associated with a novel structural mutation in the TcCYP51 protein.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caio H Franco
- Laboratório Nacional de Biociências (LNBio), Centro Nacional de Pesquisa em Energia e Materiais (CNPEM), Campinas, SP, Brazil; Department of Microbiology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
| | - David C Warhurst
- Department of Infection Biology, Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK
| | - Tapan Bhattacharyya
- Department of Infection Biology, Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK
| | - Ho Y A Au
- Department of Infection Biology, Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK
| | - Hai Le
- Department of Infection Biology, Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK
| | - Miriam A Giardini
- Institut Pasteur Korea, Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea
| | - Bruno S Pascoalino
- Laboratório Nacional de Biociências (LNBio), Centro Nacional de Pesquisa em Energia e Materiais (CNPEM), Campinas, SP, Brazil
| | - Ana Claudia Torrecilhas
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP), Diadema, SP, Brazil
| | - Lavinia M D Romera
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP), Diadema, SP, Brazil
| | - Rafael Pedro Madeira
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP), Diadema, SP, Brazil
| | - Sergio Schenkman
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Parasitology, UNIFESP, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
| | - Lucio H Freitas-Junior
- Department of Microbiology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil; Institut Pasteur Korea, Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea
| | - Eric Chatelain
- Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Michael A Miles
- Department of Infection Biology, Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK
| | - Carolina B Moraes
- Laboratório Nacional de Biociências (LNBio), Centro Nacional de Pesquisa em Energia e Materiais (CNPEM), Campinas, SP, Brazil; Department of Microbiology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil; Institut Pasteur Korea, Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea; Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP), Diadema, SP, Brazil.
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25
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Cerón-Romero MA, Maurer-Alcalá XX, Grattepanche JD, Yan Y, Fonseca MM, Katz LA. PhyloToL: A Taxon/Gene-Rich Phylogenomic Pipeline to Explore Genome Evolution of Diverse Eukaryotes. Mol Biol Evol 2020; 36:1831-1842. [PMID: 31062861 PMCID: PMC6657734 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msz103] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Estimating multiple sequence alignments (MSAs) and inferring phylogenies are essential for many aspects of comparative biology. Yet, many bioinformatics tools for such analyses have focused on specific clades, with greatest attention paid to plants, animals, and fungi. The rapid increase in high-throughput sequencing (HTS) data from diverse lineages now provides opportunities to estimate evolutionary relationships and gene family evolution across the eukaryotic tree of life. At the same time, these types of data are known to be error-prone (e.g., substitutions, contamination). To address these opportunities and challenges, we have refined a phylogenomic pipeline, now named PhyloToL, to allow easy incorporation of data from HTS studies, to automate production of both MSAs and gene trees, and to identify and remove contaminants. PhyloToL is designed for phylogenomic analyses of diverse lineages across the tree of life (i.e., at scales of >100 My). We demonstrate the power of PhyloToL by assessing stop codon usage in Ciliophora, identifying contamination in a taxon- and gene-rich database and exploring the evolutionary history of chromosomes in the kinetoplastid parasite Trypanosoma brucei, the causative agent of African sleeping sickness. Benchmarking PhyloToL’s homology assessment against that of OrthoMCL and a published paper on superfamilies of bacterial and eukaryotic organellar outer membrane pore-forming proteins demonstrates the power of our approach for determining gene family membership and inferring gene trees. PhyloToL is highly flexible and allows users to easily explore HTS data, test hypotheses about phylogeny and gene family evolution and combine outputs with third-party tools (e.g., PhyloChromoMap, iGTP).
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Affiliation(s)
- Mario A Cerón-Romero
- Department of Biological Sciences, Smith College, Northampton, MA.,Program in Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA
| | - Xyrus X Maurer-Alcalá
- Department of Biological Sciences, Smith College, Northampton, MA.,Program in Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA.,Institute of Cell Biology, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Jean-David Grattepanche
- Department of Biological Sciences, Smith College, Northampton, MA.,Biology Department, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA
| | - Ying Yan
- Department of Biological Sciences, Smith College, Northampton, MA
| | - Miguel M Fonseca
- CIIMAR - Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
| | - L A Katz
- Department of Biological Sciences, Smith College, Northampton, MA.,Program in Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA
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26
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Alonso VL, Tavernelli LE, Pezza A, Cribb P, Ritagliati C, Serra E. Aim for the Readers! Bromodomains As New Targets Against Chagas’ Disease. Curr Med Chem 2019; 26:6544-6563. [DOI: 10.2174/0929867325666181031132007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2018] [Revised: 10/04/2018] [Accepted: 10/08/2018] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Bromodomains recognize and bind acetyl-lysine residues present in histone and non-histone
proteins in a specific manner. In the last decade they have raised as attractive targets for drug discovery
because the miss-regulation of human bromodomains was discovered to be involved in the development
of a large spectrum of diseases. However, targeting eukaryotic pathogens bromodomains
continues to be almost unexplored. We and others have reported the essentiality of diverse bromodomain-
containing proteins in protozoa, offering a new opportunity for the development of antiparasitic
drugs, especially for Trypansoma cruzi, the causative agent of Chagas’ disease. Mammalian bromodomains
were classified in eight groups based on sequence similarity but parasitic bromodomains are very
divergent proteins and are hard to assign them to any of these groups, suggesting that selective inhibitors
can be obtained. In this review, we describe the importance of lysine acetylation and bromodomains
in T. cruzi as well as the current knowledge on mammalian bromodomains. Also, we summarize
the myriad of small-molecules under study to treat different pathologies and which of them have been
tested in trypanosomatids and other protozoa. All the information available led us to propose that
T. cruzi bromodomains should be considered as important potential targets and the search for smallmolecules
to inhibit them should be empowered.
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Affiliation(s)
- Victoria Lucia Alonso
- Facultad de Ciencias Bioquimicas y Farmaceuticas, Universidad Nacional de Rosario, Rosario, Argentina
| | | | - Alejandro Pezza
- Instituto de Biologia Molecular y Celular de Rosario (IBR-CONICET), Rosario, Argentina
| | - Pamela Cribb
- Instituto de Biologia Molecular y Celular de Rosario (IBR-CONICET), Rosario, Argentina
| | - Carla Ritagliati
- Instituto de Biologia Molecular y Celular de Rosario (IBR-CONICET), Rosario, Argentina
| | - Esteban Serra
- Instituto de Biologia Molecular y Celular de Rosario (IBR-CONICET), Rosario, Argentina
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27
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Hegedűsová E, Kulkarni S, Burgman B, Alfonzo JD, Paris Z. The general mRNA exporters Mex67 and Mtr2 play distinct roles in nuclear export of tRNAs in Trypanosoma brucei. Nucleic Acids Res 2019; 47:8620-8631. [PMID: 31392978 PMCID: PMC6794378 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkz671] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2019] [Revised: 07/18/2019] [Accepted: 07/29/2019] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Transfer RNAs (tRNAs) are central players in protein synthesis, which in Eukarya need to be delivered from the nucleus to the cytoplasm by specific transport receptors, most of which belong to the evolutionarily conserved beta-importin family. Based on the available literature, we identified two candidates, Xpo-t and Xpo-5 for tRNA export in Trypanosoma brucei. However, down-regulation of expression of these genes did not disrupt the export of tRNAs to the cytoplasm. In search of alternative pathways, we tested the mRNA export complex Mex67-Mtr2, for a role in tRNA nuclear export, as described previously in yeast. Down-regulation of either exporter affected the subcellular distribution of tRNAs. However, contrary to yeast, TbMex67 and TbMtr2 accumulated different subsets of tRNAs in the nucleus. While TbMtr2 perturbed the export of all the tRNAs tested, silencing of TbMex67, led to the nuclear accumulation of tRNAs that are typically modified with queuosine. In turn, inhibition of tRNA nuclear export also affected the levels of queuosine modification in tRNAs. Taken together, the results presented demonstrate the dynamic nature of tRNA trafficking in T. brucei and its potential impact not only on the availability of tRNAs for protein synthesis but also on their modification status.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eva Hegedűsová
- Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre, Czech Academy of Sciences, České Budějovice, Czech Republic
| | - Sneha Kulkarni
- Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre, Czech Academy of Sciences, České Budějovice, Czech Republic.,Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, České Budějovice, Czech Republic
| | - Brandon Burgman
- Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre, Czech Academy of Sciences, České Budějovice, Czech Republic.,The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
| | - Juan D Alfonzo
- Department of Microbiology, Ohio State Biochemistry Program and The Center for RNA Biology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
| | - Zdeněk Paris
- Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre, Czech Academy of Sciences, České Budějovice, Czech Republic.,Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, České Budějovice, Czech Republic
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28
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Sloan MA, Brooks K, Otto TD, Sanders MJ, Cotton JA, Ligoxygakis P. Transcriptional and genomic parallels between the monoxenous parasite Herpetomonas muscarum and Leishmania. PLoS Genet 2019; 15:e1008452. [PMID: 31710597 PMCID: PMC6872171 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1008452] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/17/2019] [Revised: 11/21/2019] [Accepted: 10/01/2019] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Trypanosomatid parasites are causative agents of important human and animal diseases such as sleeping sickness and leishmaniasis. Most trypanosomatids are transmitted to their mammalian hosts by insects, often belonging to Diptera (or true flies). These are called dixenous trypanosomatids since they infect two different hosts, in contrast to those that infect just insects (monoxenous). However, it is still unclear whether dixenous and monoxenous trypanosomatids interact similarly with their insect host, as fly-monoxenous trypanosomatid interaction systems are rarely reported and under-studied-despite being common in nature. Here we present the genome of monoxenous trypanosomatid Herpetomonas muscarum and discuss its transcriptome during in vitro culture and during infection of its natural insect host Drosophila melanogaster. The H. muscarum genome is broadly syntenic with that of human parasite Leishmania major. We also found strong similarities between the H. muscarum transcriptome during fruit fly infection, and those of Leishmania during sand fly infections. Overall this suggests Drosophila-Herpetomonas is a suitable model for less accessible insect-trypanosomatid host-parasite systems such as sand fly-Leishmania.
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Affiliation(s)
- Megan A. Sloan
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Karen Brooks
- The Wellcome Sanger Institute, Wellcome Genome Campus, Hixton, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom
| | - Thomas D. Otto
- The Wellcome Sanger Institute, Wellcome Genome Campus, Hixton, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom
| | - Mandy J. Sanders
- The Wellcome Sanger Institute, Wellcome Genome Campus, Hixton, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom
| | - James A. Cotton
- The Wellcome Sanger Institute, Wellcome Genome Campus, Hixton, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom
| | - Petros Ligoxygakis
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
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29
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Cayla M, Rojas F, Silvester E, Venter F, Matthews KR. African trypanosomes. Parasit Vectors 2019; 12:190. [PMID: 31036044 PMCID: PMC6489224 DOI: 10.1186/s13071-019-3355-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2018] [Accepted: 02/26/2019] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
African trypanosomes cause human African trypanosomiasis and animal African trypanosomiasis. They are transmitted by tsetse flies in sub-Saharan Africa. Although most famous for their mechanisms of immune evasion by antigenic variation, there have been recent important studies that illuminate important aspects of the biology of these parasites both in their mammalian host and during passage through their tsetse fly vector. This Primer overviews current research themes focused on these parasites and discusses how these biological insights and the development of new technologies to interrogate gene function are being used in the search for new approaches to control the parasite. The new insights into the biology of trypanosomes in their host and vector highlight that we are in a ‘golden age’ of discovery for these fascinating parasites.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mathieu Cayla
- Institute for Immunology and Infection Research, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Federico Rojas
- Institute for Immunology and Infection Research, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Eleanor Silvester
- Institute for Immunology and Infection Research, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Frank Venter
- Institute for Immunology and Infection Research, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Keith R Matthews
- Institute for Immunology and Infection Research, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
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30
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Holden JM, Koreny L, Obado S, Ratushny AV, Chen WM, Bart JM, Navarro M, Chait BT, Aitchison JD, Rout MP, Field MC. Involvement in surface antigen expression by a moonlighting FG-repeat nucleoporin in trypanosomes. Mol Biol Cell 2019; 29:1100-1110. [PMID: 29496964 PMCID: PMC5921576 DOI: 10.1091/mbc.e17-06-0430] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
The nuclear pore complex is an ancient component of the eukaryotic cell. We show here that an FG nucleoporin, TbNup53b, in trypanosomes has an association with the splicing machinery and roles in gene expression, indicating that moonlighting roles for nucleoporins are highly ancient and present in the earliest eukaryotes. Components of the nuclear periphery coordinate a multitude of activities, including macromolecular transport, cell-cycle progression, and chromatin organization. Nuclear pore complexes (NPCs) mediate nucleocytoplasmic transport, mRNA processing, and transcriptional regulation, and NPC components can define regions of high transcriptional activity in some organisms at the nuclear periphery and nucleoplasm. Lineage-specific features underpin several core nuclear functions and in trypanosomatids, which branched very early from other eukaryotes, unique protein components constitute the lamina, kinetochores, and parts of the NPCs. Here we describe a phenylalanine-glycine (FG)-repeat nucleoporin, TbNup53b, that has dual localizations within the nucleoplasm and NPC. In addition to association with nucleoporins, TbNup53b interacts with a known trans-splicing component, TSR1, and has a role in controlling expression of surface proteins including the nucleolar periphery-located, procyclin genes. Significantly, while several nucleoporins are implicated in intranuclear transcriptional regulation in metazoa, TbNup53b appears orthologous to components of the yeast/human Nup49/Nup58 complex, for which no transcriptional functions are known. These data suggest that FG-Nups are frequently co-opted to transcriptional functions during evolution and extend the presence of FG-repeat nucleoporin control of gene expression to trypanosomes, suggesting that this is a widespread and ancient eukaryotic feature, as well as underscoring once more flexibility within nucleoporin function.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Ludek Koreny
- School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dundee DD1 5EH, UK
| | | | - Alexander V Ratushny
- Center for Infectious Disease Research (formerly Seattle Biomed) and Institute for Systems Biology, Seattle, WA 98109-5234
| | - Wei-Ming Chen
- Center for Infectious Disease Research (formerly Seattle Biomed) and Institute for Systems Biology, Seattle, WA 98109-5234
| | - Jean-Mathieu Bart
- Instituto de Parasitología y Biomedicina "López-Neyra," Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, 18016 Armilla (Granada), Spain
| | - Miguel Navarro
- Instituto de Parasitología y Biomedicina "López-Neyra," Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, 18016 Armilla (Granada), Spain
| | | | - John D Aitchison
- Center for Infectious Disease Research (formerly Seattle Biomed) and Institute for Systems Biology, Seattle, WA 98109-5234
| | | | - Mark C Field
- School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dundee DD1 5EH, UK
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31
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Briggs E, Hamilton G, Crouch K, Lapsley C, McCulloch R. Genome-wide mapping reveals conserved and diverged R-loop activities in the unusual genetic landscape of the African trypanosome genome. Nucleic Acids Res 2018; 46:11789-11805. [PMID: 30304482 PMCID: PMC6294496 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gky928] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2018] [Revised: 09/25/2018] [Accepted: 10/05/2018] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
R-loops are stable RNA-DNA hybrids that have been implicated in transcription initiation and termination, as well as in telomere maintenance, chromatin formation, and genome replication and instability. RNA Polymerase (Pol) II transcription in the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma brucei is highly unusual: virtually all genes are co-transcribed from multigene transcription units, with mRNAs generated by linked trans-splicing and polyadenylation, and transcription initiation sites display no conserved promoter motifs. Here, we describe the genome-wide distribution of R-loops in wild type mammal-infective T. brucei and in mutants lacking RNase H1, revealing both conserved and diverged functions. Conserved localization was found at centromeres, rRNA genes and retrotransposon-associated genes. RNA Pol II transcription initiation sites also displayed R-loops, suggesting a broadly conserved role despite the lack of promoter conservation or transcription initiation regulation. However, the most abundant sites of R-loop enrichment were within the regions between coding sequences of the multigene transcription units, where the hybrids coincide with sites of polyadenylation and nucleosome-depletion. Thus, instead of functioning in transcription termination the most widespread localization of R-loops in T. brucei suggests a novel correlation with pre-mRNA processing. Finally, we find little evidence for correlation between R-loop localization and mapped sites of DNA replication initiation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emma Briggs
- The Wellcome Centre for Molecular Parasitology, University of Glasgow, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, Institute of Infection, Immunity and Inflammation, Sir Graeme Davies Building, 120 University Place, Glasgow G12 8TA, UK
| | - Graham Hamilton
- Glasgow Polyomics, University of Glasgow, Wolfson Wohl Cancer Research Centre, Garscube Estate, Switchback Rd, Bearsden, G61 1QH, UK
| | - Kathryn Crouch
- The Wellcome Centre for Molecular Parasitology, University of Glasgow, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, Institute of Infection, Immunity and Inflammation, Sir Graeme Davies Building, 120 University Place, Glasgow G12 8TA, UK
| | - Craig Lapsley
- The Wellcome Centre for Molecular Parasitology, University of Glasgow, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, Institute of Infection, Immunity and Inflammation, Sir Graeme Davies Building, 120 University Place, Glasgow G12 8TA, UK
| | - Richard McCulloch
- The Wellcome Centre for Molecular Parasitology, University of Glasgow, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, Institute of Infection, Immunity and Inflammation, Sir Graeme Davies Building, 120 University Place, Glasgow G12 8TA, UK
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32
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Recent advances in trypanosomatid research: genome organization, expression, metabolism, taxonomy and evolution. Parasitology 2018; 146:1-27. [PMID: 29898792 DOI: 10.1017/s0031182018000951] [Citation(s) in RCA: 104] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Unicellular flagellates of the family Trypanosomatidae are obligatory parasites of invertebrates, vertebrates and plants. Dixenous species are aetiological agents of a number of diseases in humans, domestic animals and plants. Their monoxenous relatives are restricted to insects. Because of the high biological diversity, adaptability to dramatically different environmental conditions, and omnipresence, these protists have major impact on all biotic communities that still needs to be fully elucidated. In addition, as these organisms represent a highly divergent evolutionary lineage, they are strikingly different from the common 'model system' eukaryotes, such as some mammals, plants or fungi. A number of excellent reviews, published over the past decade, were dedicated to specialized topics from the areas of trypanosomatid molecular and cell biology, biochemistry, host-parasite relationships or other aspects of these fascinating organisms. However, there is a need for a more comprehensive review that summarizing recent advances in the studies of trypanosomatids in the last 30 years, a task, which we tried to accomplish with the current paper.
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Schmid-Hempel P, Aebi M, Barribeau S, Kitajima T, du Plessis L, Schmid-Hempel R, Zoller S. The genomes of Crithidia bombi and C. expoeki, common parasites of bumblebees. PLoS One 2018; 13:e0189738. [PMID: 29304093 PMCID: PMC5755769 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0189738] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2017] [Accepted: 11/30/2017] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Trypanosomatids (Trypanosomatidae, Kinetoplastida) are flagellated protozoa containing many parasites of medical or agricultural importance. Among those, Crithidia bombi and C. expoeki, are common parasites in bumble bees around the world, and phylogenetically close to Leishmania and Leptomonas. They have a simple and direct life cycle with one host, and partially castrate the founding queens greatly reducing their fitness. Here, we report the nuclear genome sequences of one clone of each species, extracted from a field-collected infection. Using a combination of Roche 454 FLX Titanium, Pacific Biosciences PacBio RS, and Illumina GA2 instruments for C. bombi, and PacBio for C. expoeki, we could produce high-quality and well resolved sequences. We find that these genomes are around 32 and 34 MB, with 7,808 and 7,851 annotated genes for C. bombi and C. expoeki, respectively-which is somewhat less than reported from other trypanosomatids, with few introns, and organized in polycistronic units. A large fraction of genes received plausible functional support in comparison primarily with Leishmania and Trypanosoma. Comparing the annotated genes of the two species with those of six other trypanosomatids (C. fasciculata, L. pyrrhocoris, L. seymouri, B. ayalai, L. major, and T. brucei) shows similar gene repertoires and many orthologs. Similar to other trypanosomatids, we also find signs of concerted evolution in genes putatively involved in the interaction with the host, a high degree of synteny between C. bombi and C. expoeki, and considerable overlap with several other species in the set. A total of 86 orthologous gene groups show signatures of positive selection in the branch leading to the two Crithidia under study, mostly of unknown function. As an example, we examined the initiating glycosylation pathway of surface components in C. bombi, finding it deviates from most other eukaryotes and also from other kinetoplastids, which may indicate rapid evolution in the extracellular matrix that is involved in interactions with the host. Bumble bees are important pollinators and Crithidia-infections are suspected to cause substantial selection pressure on their host populations. These newly sequenced genomes provide tools that should help better understand host-parasite interactions in these pollinator pathogens.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Markus Aebi
- Institute of Microbiology, ETH Zurich, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Seth Barribeau
- Institute of Integrative Biology (IBZ), ETH Zurich, Zürich, Switzerland
| | | | - Louis du Plessis
- Institute of Integrative Biology (IBZ), ETH Zurich, Zürich, Switzerland
| | | | - Stefan Zoller
- Genetic Diversity Centre (GDC), ETH Zurich, Zürich, Switzerland
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Aoki JI, Muxel SM, Zampieri RA, Laranjeira-Silva MF, Müller KE, Nerland AH, Floeter-Winter LM. RNA-seq transcriptional profiling of Leishmania amazonensis reveals an arginase-dependent gene expression regulation. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2017; 11:e0006026. [PMID: 29077741 PMCID: PMC5678721 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0006026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2017] [Revised: 11/08/2017] [Accepted: 10/10/2017] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Leishmania is a protozoan parasite that alternates its life cycle between the sand-fly vector and the mammalian host. This alternation involves environmental changes and leads the parasite to dynamic modifications in morphology, metabolism, cellular signaling and regulation of gene expression to allow for a rapid adaptation to new conditions. The L-arginine pathway in L. amazonensis is important during the parasite life cycle and interferes in the establishment and maintenance of the infection in mammalian macrophages. Host arginase is an immune-regulatory enzyme that can reduce the production of nitric oxide by activated macrophages, directing the availability of L-arginine to the polyamine pathway, resulting in parasite replication. In this work, we performed transcriptional profiling to identify differentially expressed genes in L. amazonensis wild-type (La-WT) versus L. amazonensis arginase knockout (La-arg-) promastigotes and axenic amastigotes. Methodology/Principal findings A total of 8253 transcripts were identified in La-WT and La-arg- promastigotes and axenic amastigotes, about 60% of them codifying hypothetical proteins and 443 novel transcripts, which did not match any previously annotated genes. Our RNA-seq data revealed that 85% of genes were constitutively expressed. The comparison of transcriptome and metabolome data showed lower levels of arginase and higher levels of glutamate-5-kinase in La-WT axenic amastigotes compared to promastigotes. The absence of arginase activity in promastigotes increased the levels of pyrroline 5-carboxylate reductase, but decreased the levels of arginosuccinate synthase, pyrroline 5-carboxylate dehydrogenase, acetylornithine deacetylase and spermidine synthase transcripts levels. These observations can explain previous metabolomic data pointing to the increase of L-arginine, citrulline and L-glutamate and reduction of aspartate, proline, ornithine and putrescine. Altogether, these results indicate that arginase activity is important in Leishmania gene expression modulation during differentiation and adaptation to environmental changes. Here, we confirmed this hypothesis with the identification of differential gene expression of the enzymes involved in biosynthesis of amino acids, arginine and proline metabolism and arginine biosynthesis. Conclusions/Significance All data provided information about the transcriptomic profiling and the expression levels of La-WT and La-arg- promastigotes and axenic amastigotes. These findings revealed the importance of arginase in parasite survival and differentiation, and indicated the existence of a coordinated response in the absence of arginase activity related to arginine and polyamine pathways. Leishmania are auxotrophic for many essential nutrients, including amino acids. In this way, the parasite needs to uptake the amino acids from the environment. The uptake of amino acids is mediated by amino acid transporters that are unique for Leishmania. As part of polyamine pathway, the arginase converts L-arginine to ornithine and furthermore to putrescine, products which are essential for parasite growth. On the other hand, the absence of arginase activity could alter the metabolism of the parasite to surpass the external signals during the life cycle and the fate of infection. The transcriptional profiling of La-WT and La-arg- promastigotes and axenic amastigotes revealed 8253 transcripts, 60% encoding hypothetical proteins and 443 novel transcripts. In addition, our data revealed that 85% of the genes were constitutively expressed. Among the 15% (1268 genes) of the differentially expressed genes, we identified genes up- and down-regulated comparing the transcript abundance from different life cycle stages of the parasite and in the presence or absence of arginase. We also combined the transcriptional with metabolic profile that revealed a proportional correlation between enzyme and metabolites in the polyamine pathway. The differentiation of promastigotes to amastigotes alters the expression of enzymes from polyamines biosynthesis, which modulates ornithine, L-glutamate, proline and putrescine levels. In addition, the absence of arginase activity increased the levels of L-arginine, citrulline and L-glutamate and decreased the levels of aspartate, proline, ornithine and putrescine in promastigotes by differential modulation of genes involved in its metabolism. Altogether these data provided additional insights into how Leishmania is able to modulate its biological functions in the presence or absence of arginase activity to survive during environmental changes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juliana Ide Aoki
- Department of Physiology, Institute of Bioscience, University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
- * E-mail: (JIA); (LMFW)
| | - Sandra Marcia Muxel
- Department of Physiology, Institute of Bioscience, University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
| | | | | | - Karl Erik Müller
- Department of Clinical Science, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
| | | | - Lucile Maria Floeter-Winter
- Department of Physiology, Institute of Bioscience, University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
- * E-mail: (JIA); (LMFW)
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Genomic analysis of Isometamidium Chloride resistance in Trypanosoma congolense. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR PARASITOLOGY-DRUGS AND DRUG RESISTANCE 2017; 7:350-361. [PMID: 29032180 PMCID: PMC5645165 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpddr.2017.10.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/14/2017] [Revised: 10/02/2017] [Accepted: 10/05/2017] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Isometamidium Chloride (ISM) is one of the principal drugs used to counteract Trypanosoma congolense infection in livestock, both as a prophylactic as well as a curative treatment. However, numerous cases of ISM resistance have been reported in different African regions, representing a significant constraint in the battle against Animal African Trypanosomiasis. In order to identify genetic signatures associated with ISM resistance in T. congolense, the sensitive strain MSOROM7 was selected for induction of ISM resistance in a murine host. Administered ISM concentrations in immune-suppressed mice were gradually increased from 0.001 mg/kg to 1 mg/kg, the maximal dose used in livestock. As a result, three independent MSOROM7 lines acquired full resistance to this concentration after five months of induction, and retained this full resistant phenotype following a six months period without drug pressure. In contrast, parasites did not acquire ISM resistance in immune-competent animals, even after more than two years under ISM pressure, suggesting that the development of full ISM resistance is strongly enhanced when the host immune response is compromised. Genomic analyses comparing the ISM resistant lines with the parental sensitive line identified shifts in read depth at heterozygous loci in genes coding for different transporters and transmembrane products, and several of these shifts were also found within natural ISM resistant isolates. These findings suggested that the transport and accumulation of ISM inside the resistant parasites may be modified, which was confirmed by flow cytometry and ex vivo ISM uptake assays that showed a decrease in the accumulation of ISM in the resistant parasites.
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Chandra U, Yadav A, Kumar D, Saha S. Cell cycle stage-specific transcriptional activation of cyclins mediated by HAT2-dependent H4K10 acetylation of promoters in Leishmania donovani. PLoS Pathog 2017; 13:e1006615. [PMID: 28938001 PMCID: PMC5627965 DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1006615] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/20/2017] [Revised: 10/04/2017] [Accepted: 08/29/2017] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Chromatin modifications affect several processes. In investigating the Leishmania donovani histone acetyltransferase HAT2, using in vitro biochemical assays and HAT2-heterozygous genomic knockout we found the constitutively nuclear HAT2 acetylated histone H4K10 in vitro and in vivo. HAT2 was essential. HAT2-depleted cells displayed growth and cell cycle defects, and poor survival in host cells. Real time PCR and DNA microarray analyses, as well as rescue experiments, revealed that downregulation of cyclins CYC4 and CYC9 were responsible for S phase and G2/M defects of HAT2-depleted cells respectively. Leishmania genes are arranged in unidirectional clusters, and clustered genes are coordinately transcribed as long polycistronic units, typically from divergent strand switch regions (dSSRs) which initiate transcription bidirectionally on opposite strands. In investigating the mechanism by which CYC4 and CYC9 expression levels are reduced in HAT2-depleted cells without other genes in their polycistronic transcription units being coordinately downregulated, we found using reporter assays that CYC4 and CYC9 have their own specific promoters. Chromatin immunoprecipitation assays with H4acetylK10 antibodies and real time PCR analyses of RNA suggested these gene-specific promoters were activated in cell cycle-dependent manner. Nuclear run-on analyses confirmed that CYC4 and CYC9 were transcriptionally activated from their own promoters at specific cell cycle stages. Thus, there are two tiers of gene regulation. Transcription of polycistronic units primarily initiates at dSSRs, and this most likely occurs constitutively. A subset of genes have their own promoters, at least some of which are activated in a cell-cycle dependent manner. This second tier of regulation is more sensitive to H4K10 acetylation levels, resulting in downregulation of expression in HAT2-depleted cells. This report presents the first data pointing to cell cycle-specific activation of promoters in trypanosomatids, thus uncovering new facets of gene regulation in this parasite family.
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Affiliation(s)
- Udita Chandra
- Department of Microbiology, University of Delhi South Campus, New Delhi, India
| | - Aarti Yadav
- Department of Microbiology, University of Delhi South Campus, New Delhi, India
| | - Devanand Kumar
- Department of Microbiology, University of Delhi South Campus, New Delhi, India
| | - Swati Saha
- Department of Microbiology, University of Delhi South Campus, New Delhi, India
- * E-mail:
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Christiano R, Kolev NG, Shi H, Ullu E, Walther TC, Tschudi C. The proteome and transcriptome of the infectious metacyclic form of Trypanosoma brucei define quiescent cells primed for mammalian invasion. Mol Microbiol 2017; 106:74-92. [PMID: 28742275 DOI: 10.1111/mmi.13754] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 07/20/2017] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
Abstract
The infectious metacyclic forms of Trypanosoma brucei result from a complex development in the tsetse fly vector. When they infect mammals, they cause African sleeping sickness in humans. Due to scarcity of biological material and difficulties of the tsetse fly as an experimental system, very limited information is available concerning the gene expression profile of metacyclic forms. We used an in vitro system based on expressing the RNA binding protein 6 to obtain infectious metacyclics and determined their protein and mRNA repertoires by mass-spectrometry (MS) based proteomics and mRNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) in comparison to non-infectious procyclic trypanosomes. We showed that metacyclics are quiescent cells, and propose this influences the choice of a monocistronic variant surface glycoprotein expression site. Metacyclics have a largely bloodstream-form type transcriptome, and thus are programmed to translate a bloodstream-form type proteome upon entry into the mammalian host and resumption of cell division. Genes encoding cell surface components showed the largest changes between procyclics and metacyclics, observed at both the transcript and protein levels. Genes encoding metabolic enzymes exhibited expression in metacyclics with features of both procyclic and bloodstream forms, suggesting that this intermediate-type metabolism is dictated by the availability of nutrients in the tsetse fly vector.
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Affiliation(s)
- Romain Christiano
- Department of Cell Biology, School of Medicine, Yale University, 333 Cedar Street, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
| | - Nikolay G Kolev
- Department of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases, Yale School of Public Health, 60 College Street, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
| | - Huafang Shi
- Department of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases, Yale School of Public Health, 60 College Street, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
| | - Elisabetta Ullu
- Department of Cell Biology, School of Medicine, Yale University, 333 Cedar Street, New Haven, CT 06520, USA.,Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Yale University, 330 Cedar St, Boardman 110, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
| | - Tobias C Walther
- Department of Cell Biology, School of Medicine, Yale University, 333 Cedar Street, New Haven, CT 06520, USA.,Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Christian Tschudi
- Department of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases, Yale School of Public Health, 60 College Street, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
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38
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Maree JP, Povelones ML, Clark DJ, Rudenko G, Patterton HG. Well-positioned nucleosomes punctuate polycistronic pol II transcription units and flank silent VSG gene arrays in Trypanosoma brucei. Epigenetics Chromatin 2017; 10:14. [PMID: 28344657 PMCID: PMC5359979 DOI: 10.1186/s13072-017-0121-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2017] [Accepted: 03/14/2017] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Background The compaction of DNA in chromatin in eukaryotes allowed the expansion of genome size and coincided with significant evolutionary diversification. However, chromatin generally represses DNA function, and mechanisms coevolved to regulate chromatin structure and its impact on DNA. This included the selection of specific nucleosome positions to modulate accessibility to the DNA molecule. Trypanosoma brucei, a member of the Excavates supergroup, falls in an ancient evolutionary branch of eukaryotes and provides valuable insight into the organization of chromatin in early genomes. Results We have mapped nucleosome positions in T. brucei and identified important differences compared to other eukaryotes: The RNA polymerase II initiation regions in T. brucei do not exhibit pronounced nucleosome depletion, and show little evidence for defined −1 and +1 nucleosomes. In contrast, a well-positioned nucleosome is present directly on the splice acceptor sites within the polycistronic transcription units. The RNA polyadenylation sites were depleted of nucleosomes, with a single well-positioned nucleosome present immediately downstream of the predicted sites. The regions flanking the silent variant surface glycoprotein (VSG) gene cassettes showed extensive arrays of well-positioned nucleosomes, which may repress cryptic transcription initiation. The silent VSG genes themselves exhibited a less regular nucleosomal pattern in both bloodstream and procyclic form trypanosomes. The DNA replication origins, when present within silent VSG gene cassettes, displayed a defined nucleosomal organization compared with replication origins in other chromosomal core regions. Conclusions Our results indicate that some organizational features of chromatin are evolutionarily ancient, and may already have been present in the last eukaryotic common ancestor. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13072-017-0121-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Megan Lindsay Povelones
- Department of Biology, Pennsylvania State University (Brandywine Campus), Media, PA 19063 USA
| | - David Johannes Clark
- Division of Developmental Biology, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute for Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD USA
| | - Gloria Rudenko
- Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, South Kensington, London, SW7 2AZ UK
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Berná L, Chiribao ML, Greif G, Rodriguez M, Alvarez-Valin F, Robello C. Transcriptomic analysis reveals metabolic switches and surface remodeling as key processes for stage transition in Trypanosoma cruzi. PeerJ 2017; 5:e3017. [PMID: 28286708 PMCID: PMC5345387 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.3017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2016] [Accepted: 01/23/2017] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
American trypanosomiasis is a chronic and endemic disease which affects millions of people. Trypanosoma cruzi, its causative agent, has a life cycle that involves complex morphological and functional transitions, as well as a variety of environmental conditions. This requires a tight regulation of gene expression, which is achieved mainly by post-transcriptional regulation. In this work we conducted an RNAseq analysis of the three major life cycle stages of T. cruzi: amastigotes, epimastigotes and trypomastigotes. This analysis allowed us to delineate specific transcriptomic profiling for each stage, and also to identify those biological processes of major relevance in each state. Stage specific expression profiling evidenced the plasticity of T. cruzi to adapt quickly to different conditions, with particular focus on membrane remodeling and metabolic shifts along the life cycle. Epimastigotes, which replicate in the gut of insect vectors, showed higher expression of genes related to energy metabolism, mainly Krebs cycle, respiratory chain and oxidative phosphorylation related genes, and anabolism related genes associated to nucleotide and steroid biosynthesis; also, a general down-regulation of surface glycoprotein coding genes was seen at this stage. Trypomastigotes, living extracellularly in the bloodstream of mammals, express a plethora of surface proteins and signaling genes involved in invasion and evasion of immune response. Amastigotes mostly express membrane transporters and genes involved in regulation of cell cycle, and also express a specific subset of surface glycoprotein coding genes. In addition, these results allowed us to improve the annotation of the Dm28c genome, identifying new ORFs and set the stage for construction of networks of co-expression, which can give clues about coded proteins of unknown functions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luisa Berná
- Unidad de Biología Molecular, Institut Pasteur de Montevideo, Montevideo, Uruguay
| | - Maria Laura Chiribao
- Unidad de Biología Molecular, Institut Pasteur de Montevideo, Montevideo, Uruguay.,Departamento de Bioquímica, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay
| | - Gonzalo Greif
- Unidad de Biología Molecular, Institut Pasteur de Montevideo, Montevideo, Uruguay
| | - Matias Rodriguez
- Sección Biomatemática, Unidad de Genómica Evolutiva, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay
| | - Fernando Alvarez-Valin
- Sección Biomatemática, Unidad de Genómica Evolutiva, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay
| | - Carlos Robello
- Unidad de Biología Molecular, Institut Pasteur de Montevideo, Montevideo, Uruguay.,Departamento de Bioquímica, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay
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40
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Manna PT, Obado SO, Boehm C, Gadelha C, Sali A, Chait BT, Rout MP, Field MC. Lineage-specific proteins essential for endocytosis in trypanosomes. J Cell Sci 2017; 130:1379-1392. [PMID: 28232524 PMCID: PMC5399782 DOI: 10.1242/jcs.191478] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2016] [Accepted: 02/13/2017] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Clathrin-mediated endocytosis (CME) is the most evolutionarily ancient endocytic mechanism known, and in many lineages the sole mechanism for internalisation. Significantly, in mammalian cells CME is responsible for the vast bulk of endocytic flux and has likely undergone multiple adaptations to accommodate specific requirements by individual species. In African trypanosomes, we previously demonstrated that CME is independent of the AP-2 adaptor protein complex, that orthologues to many of the animal and fungal CME protein cohort are absent, and that a novel, trypanosome-restricted protein cohort interacts with clathrin and drives CME. Here, we used a novel cryomilling affinity isolation strategy to preserve transient low-affinity interactions, giving the most comprehensive trypanosome clathrin interactome to date. We identified the trypanosome AP-1 complex, Trypanosoma brucei (Tb)EpsinR, several endosomal SNAREs plus orthologues of SMAP and the AP-2 associated kinase AAK1 as interacting with clathrin. Novel lineage-specific proteins were identified, which we designate TbCAP80 and TbCAP141. Their depletion produced extensive defects in endocytosis and endomembrane system organisation, revealing a novel molecular pathway subtending an early-branching and highly divergent form of CME, which is conserved and likely functionally important across the kinetoplastid parasites. Summary: Endocytosis is a vital process in most cells, and here we identify important proteins required for this process in trypanosomes. Significantly, these are unique and not present in animals, fungi or plants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paul T Manna
- School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dundee, Scotland DD1 5EH, UK
| | - Samson O Obado
- The Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, New York, NY 10021, USA
| | - Cordula Boehm
- School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dundee, Scotland DD1 5EH, UK
| | - Catarina Gadelha
- School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG2 7UH, UK
| | - Andrej Sali
- California Institute for Quantitative Biosciences, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Brian T Chait
- The Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, New York, NY 10021, USA
| | - Michael P Rout
- The Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, New York, NY 10021, USA
| | - Mark C Field
- School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dundee, Scotland DD1 5EH, UK
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41
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Nandan D, Thomas SA, Nguyen A, Moon KM, Foster LJ, Reiner NE. Comprehensive Identification of mRNA-Binding Proteins of Leishmania donovani by Interactome Capture. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0170068. [PMID: 28135300 PMCID: PMC5279761 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0170068] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2016] [Accepted: 12/28/2016] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Leishmania are unicellular eukaryotes responsible for leishmaniasis in humans. Like other trypanosomatids, leishmania regulate protein coding gene expression almost exclusively at the post-transcriptional level with the help of RNA binding proteins (RBPs). Due to the presence of polycystronic transcription units, leishmania do not regulate RNA polymerase II-dependent transcription initiation. Recent evidence suggests that the main control points in gene expression are mRNA degradation and translation. Protein-RNA interactions are involved in every aspect of RNA biology, such as mRNA splicing, polyadenylation, localization, degradation, and translation. A detailed picture of these interactions would likely prove to be highly informative in understanding leishmania biology and virulence. We developed a strategy involving covalent UV cross-linking of RBPs to mRNA in vivo, followed by interactome capture using oligo(dT) magnetic beads to define comprehensively the mRNA interactome of growing L. donovani amastigotes. The protein mass spectrometry analysis of captured proteins identified 79 mRNA interacting proteins which withstood very stringent washing conditions. Strikingly, we found that 49 of these mRNA interacting proteins had no orthologs or homologs in the human genome. Consequently, these may represent high quality candidates for selective drug targeting leading to novel therapeutics. These results show that this unbiased, systematic strategy has the promise to be applicable to study the mRNA interactome during various biological settings such as metabolic changes, stress (low pH environment, oxidative stress and nutrient deprivation) or drug treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Devki Nandan
- Departments of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Sneha A. Thomas
- Departments of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Anne Nguyen
- Departments of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Kyung-Mee Moon
- University of British Columbia, Centre for High-Throughput Biology and Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Leonard J. Foster
- University of British Columbia, Centre for High-Throughput Biology and Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Neil E. Reiner
- Departments of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
- * E-mail:
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Khan MF, Shrivastava K, Sinha R, Kumar V, Jaitly AK. Genome wide occurrence and insertion preferences of INGI/RIME and SLACS CRE transposable elements in Trypanosoma brucei. Mob Genet Elements 2017; 6:e1240747. [PMID: 28090379 DOI: 10.1080/2159256x.2016.1240747] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2016] [Revised: 09/18/2016] [Accepted: 09/20/2016] [Indexed: 10/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Retrotransposons play significant role in genome remodelling of T. brucei and about 5% of its genome consists of retrotransposons including INGI/RIME elements. INGI is one of the dispersed repetitive elements in T. brucei genome which is found distributed throughout all the chromosomes. SLACS (Spliced Leader Associated Conserved Sequence) however, is more conserved in its nature and lacks the typical poly-distributional pattern of LINE like transposons. We have found total 589 copies of these TEs with only 17.06 % (104 copies out of 589) copies with both ends intact thus showing a majority of truncated copies. Complete SLACS CRE were found only on chromosome 9, whereas, complete INGI/RIME were more ubiquitously distributed. The 50 - 70 bp upstream flanking sequence of these elements shows suitable nucleotide biophysical properties to favor transposition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mohd Faheem Khan
- Department of Plant Sciences, M.J.P. Rohilkhand University, Bareilly, UP, India; Division of Animal Genetics, Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar, Bareilly, UP, India
| | - Kush Shrivastava
- Division of Animal Genetics, Indian Veterinary Research Institute , Izatnagar, Bareilly, UP, India
| | - Rebeka Sinha
- Dairy Cattle Breeding Division, National Dairy Research Institute , Karnal, Haryana, India
| | - Virendra Kumar
- Department of Plant Sciences, M.J.P. Rohilkhand University , Bareilly, UP, India
| | - A K Jaitly
- Department of Plant Sciences, M.J.P. Rohilkhand University , Bareilly, UP, India
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Bromodomains in Protozoan Parasites: Evolution, Function, and Opportunities for Drug Development. Microbiol Mol Biol Rev 2017; 81:81/1/e00047-16. [PMID: 28077462 DOI: 10.1128/mmbr.00047-16] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/23/2023] Open
Abstract
Parasitic infections remain one of the most pressing global health concerns of our day, affecting billions of people and producing unsustainable economic burdens. The rise of drug-resistant parasites has created an urgent need to study their biology in hopes of uncovering new potential drug targets. It has been established that disrupting gene expression by interfering with lysine acetylation is detrimental to survival of apicomplexan (Toxoplasma gondii and Plasmodium spp.) and kinetoplastid (Leishmania spp. and Trypanosoma spp.) parasites. As "readers" of lysine acetylation, bromodomain proteins have emerged as key gene expression regulators and a promising new class of drug target. Here we review recent studies that demonstrate the essential roles played by bromodomain-containing proteins in parasite viability, invasion, and stage switching and present work showing the efficacy of bromodomain inhibitors as novel antiparasitic agents. In addition, we performed a phylogenetic analysis of bromodomain proteins in representative pathogens, some of which possess unique features that may be specific to parasite processes and useful in future drug development.
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D'Archivio S, Wickstead B. Trypanosome outer kinetochore proteins suggest conservation of chromosome segregation machinery across eukaryotes. J Cell Biol 2016; 216:379-391. [PMID: 28034897 PMCID: PMC5294786 DOI: 10.1083/jcb.201608043] [Citation(s) in RCA: 68] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2016] [Revised: 10/25/2016] [Accepted: 12/01/2016] [Indexed: 01/27/2023] Open
Abstract
The kinetochore complex is conserved across many eukaryotes, but the protozoan lineage Kinetoplastida builds kinetochores from components without apparent homology to models. D’Archivio and Wickstead describe a new family of proteins with homology to outer kinetochore proteins Ndc80 and Nuf2 that defines the outer kinetochore of trypanosomes, suggesting that all eukaryotes have divergent versions of a universal kinetochore machine. Kinetochores are multiprotein complexes that couple eukaryotic chromosomes to the mitotic spindle to ensure proper segregation. The model for kinetochore assembly is conserved between humans and yeast, and homologues of several components are widely distributed in eukaryotes, but key components are absent in some lineages. The recent discovery in a lineage of protozoa called kinetoplastids of unconventional kinetochores with no apparent homology to model organisms suggests that more than one system for eukaryotic chromosome segregation may exist. In this study, we report a new family of proteins distantly related to outer kinetochore proteins Ndc80 and Nuf2. The family member in kinetoplastids, KKT-interacting protein 1 (KKIP1), associates with the kinetochore, and its depletion causes severe defects in karyokinesis, loss of individual chromosomes, and gross defects in spindle assembly or stability. Immunopurification of KKIP1 from stabilized kinetochores identifies six further components, which form part of a trypanosome outer kinetochore complex. These findings suggest that kinetochores in organisms such as kinetoplastids are built from a divergent, but not ancestrally distinct, set of components and that Ndc80/Nuf2-like proteins are universal in eukaryotic division.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simon D'Archivio
- School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2UH, England, UK
| | - Bill Wickstead
- School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2UH, England, UK
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Kafková L, Debler EW, Fisk JC, Jain K, Clarke SG, Read LK. The Major Protein Arginine Methyltransferase in Trypanosoma brucei Functions as an Enzyme-Prozyme Complex. J Biol Chem 2016; 292:2089-2100. [PMID: 27998975 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.m116.757112] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2016] [Revised: 12/14/2016] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
Prozymes are catalytically inactive enzyme paralogs that dramatically stimulate the function of weakly active enzymes through complex formation. The two prozymes described to date reside in the polyamine biosynthesis pathway of the human parasite Trypanosoma brucei, an early branching eukaryote that lacks transcriptional regulation and regulates its proteome through posttranscriptional and posttranslational means. Arginine methylation is a common posttranslational modification in eukaryotes catalyzed by protein arginine methyltransferases (PRMTs) that are typically thought to function as homodimers. We demonstrate that a major T. brucei PRMT, TbPRMT1, functions as a heterotetrameric enzyme-prozyme pair. The inactive PRMT paralog, TbPRMT1PRO, is essential for catalytic activity of the TbPRMT1ENZ subunit. Mutational analysis definitively demonstrates that TbPRMT1ENZ is the cofactor-binding subunit and carries all catalytic activity of the complex. Our results are the first demonstration of an obligate heteromeric PRMT, and they suggest that enzyme-prozyme organization is expanded in trypanosomes as a posttranslational means of enzyme regulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucie Kafková
- From the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Witebsky Center for Microbial Pathogenesis and Immunology, and Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York 14214
| | - Erik W Debler
- the Laboratory of Cell Biology, The Rockefeller University, New York, New York 10065, and
| | - John C Fisk
- From the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Witebsky Center for Microbial Pathogenesis and Immunology, and Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York 14214
| | - Kanishk Jain
- the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and The Molecular Biology Institute, UCLA, Los Angeles, California 90095
| | - Steven G Clarke
- the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and The Molecular Biology Institute, UCLA, Los Angeles, California 90095
| | - Laurie K Read
- From the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Witebsky Center for Microbial Pathogenesis and Immunology, and Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York 14214,
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Uzcanga G, Lara E, Gutiérrez F, Beaty D, Beske T, Teran R, Navarro JC, Pasero P, Benítez W, Poveda A. Nuclear DNA replication and repair in parasites of the genus Leishmania: Exploiting differences to develop innovative therapeutic approaches. Crit Rev Microbiol 2016; 43:156-177. [PMID: 27960617 DOI: 10.1080/1040841x.2016.1188758] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Leishmaniasis is a common tropical disease that affects mainly poor people in underdeveloped and developing countries. This largely neglected infection is caused by Leishmania spp, a parasite from the Trypanosomatidae family. This parasitic disease has different clinical manifestations, ranging from localized cutaneous to more harmful visceral forms. The main limitations of the current treatments are their high cost, toxicity, lack of specificity, and long duration. Efforts to improve treatments are necessary to deal with this infectious disease. Many approved drugs to combat diseases as diverse as cancer, bacterial, or viral infections take advantage of specific features of the causing agent or of the disease. Recent evidence indicates that the specific characteristics of the Trypanosomatidae replication and repair machineries could be used as possible targets for the development of new treatments. Here, we review in detail the molecular mechanisms of DNA replication and repair regulation in trypanosomatids of the genus Leishmania and the drugs that could be useful against this disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Graciela Uzcanga
- a Centro Internacional de Zoonosis, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria , Universidad Central del Ecuador , Quito , Ecuador.,b Programa Prometeo , SENESCYT, Whymper E7-37 y Alpallana, Quito , Ecuador.,c Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Ambientales, Universidad Internacional SEK Calle Alberto Einstein sn y 5ta transversal , Quito , Ecuador.,d Fundación Instituto de Estudios Avanzados-IDEA , Caracas , Venezuela
| | - Eliana Lara
- a Centro Internacional de Zoonosis, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria , Universidad Central del Ecuador , Quito , Ecuador.,e Institute of Human Genetics , CNRS UPR 1142, 141 rue de la Cardonille, Equipe Labellisée Ligue Contre le Cancer , Montpellier cedex 5 , France
| | - Fernanda Gutiérrez
- a Centro Internacional de Zoonosis, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria , Universidad Central del Ecuador , Quito , Ecuador
| | - Doyle Beaty
- a Centro Internacional de Zoonosis, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria , Universidad Central del Ecuador , Quito , Ecuador
| | - Timo Beske
- a Centro Internacional de Zoonosis, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria , Universidad Central del Ecuador , Quito , Ecuador
| | - Rommy Teran
- a Centro Internacional de Zoonosis, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria , Universidad Central del Ecuador , Quito , Ecuador
| | - Juan-Carlos Navarro
- a Centro Internacional de Zoonosis, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria , Universidad Central del Ecuador , Quito , Ecuador.,f Universidad Central de Venezuela, Instituto de Zoología y Ecología Tropical , Caracas , Venezuela.,g Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Ambientales, Universidad Internacional SEK, Calle Alberto Einstein sn y 5ta transversal , Quito , Ecuador
| | - Philippe Pasero
- e Institute of Human Genetics , CNRS UPR 1142, 141 rue de la Cardonille, Equipe Labellisée Ligue Contre le Cancer , Montpellier cedex 5 , France
| | - Washington Benítez
- a Centro Internacional de Zoonosis, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria , Universidad Central del Ecuador , Quito , Ecuador
| | - Ana Poveda
- a Centro Internacional de Zoonosis, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria , Universidad Central del Ecuador , Quito , Ecuador
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Maishman L, Obado SO, Alsford S, Bart JM, Chen WM, Ratushny AV, Navarro M, Horn D, Aitchison JD, Chait BT, Rout MP, Field MC. Co-dependence between trypanosome nuclear lamina components in nuclear stability and control of gene expression. Nucleic Acids Res 2016; 44:10554-10570. [PMID: 27625397 PMCID: PMC5159534 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkw751] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2016] [Revised: 08/02/2016] [Accepted: 08/20/2016] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
The nuclear lamina is a filamentous structure subtending the nuclear envelope and required for chromatin organization, transcriptional regulation and maintaining nuclear structure. The trypanosomatid coiled-coil NUP-1 protein is a lamina component functionally analogous to lamins, the major lamina proteins of metazoa. There is little evidence for shared ancestry, suggesting the presence of a distinct lamina system in trypanosomes. To find additional trypanosomatid lamina components we identified NUP-1 interacting proteins by affinity capture and mass-spectrometry. Multiple components of the nuclear pore complex (NPC) and a second coiled-coil protein, which we termed NUP-2, were found. NUP-2 has a punctate distribution at the nuclear periphery throughout the cell cycle and is in close proximity to NUP-1, the NPCs and telomeric chromosomal regions. RNAi-mediated silencing of NUP-2 leads to severe proliferation defects, gross alterations to nuclear structure, chromosomal organization and nuclear envelope architecture. Further, transcription is altered at telomere-proximal variant surface glycoprotein (VSG) expression sites (ESs), suggesting a role in controlling ES expression, although NUP-2 silencing does not increase VSG switching. Transcriptome analysis suggests specific alterations to Pol I-dependent transcription. NUP-1 is mislocalized in NUP-2 knockdown cells and vice versa, implying that NUP-1 and NUP-2 form a co-dependent network and identifying NUP-2 as a second trypanosomatid nuclear lamina component.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luke Maishman
- School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dundee, Scotland, DD1 5EH, UK
| | - Samson O Obado
- The Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | - Sam Alsford
- London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, London, WC1E 7HT, UK
| | - Jean-Mathieu Bart
- Instituto de Parasitología y Biomedicina López-Neyra, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas, 18100 Grenada, Spain
| | - Wei-Ming Chen
- Center for Infectious Disease Research (formerly Seattle Biomedical Research Institute), Seattle, WA 98109, USA
| | - Alexander V Ratushny
- Center for Infectious Disease Research (formerly Seattle Biomedical Research Institute), Seattle, WA 98109, USA.,Institute for Systems Biology, Seattle, WA 98109, USA
| | - Miguel Navarro
- Instituto de Parasitología y Biomedicina López-Neyra, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas, 18100 Grenada, Spain
| | - David Horn
- School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dundee, Scotland, DD1 5EH, UK
| | - John D Aitchison
- Center for Infectious Disease Research (formerly Seattle Biomedical Research Institute), Seattle, WA 98109, USA.,Institute for Systems Biology, Seattle, WA 98109, USA
| | - Brian T Chait
- The Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | - Michael P Rout
- The Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | - Mark C Field
- School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dundee, Scotland, DD1 5EH, UK
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Houston-Ludlam GA, Belew AT, El-Sayed NM. Comparative Transcriptome Profiling of Human Foreskin Fibroblasts Infected with the Sylvio and Y Strains of Trypanosoma cruzi. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0159197. [PMID: 27505626 PMCID: PMC4978399 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0159197] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2016] [Accepted: 06/28/2016] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Trypanosoma cruzi, the causative agent of Chagas Disease, is phylogeneticaly distributed into nearly identical genetic strains which show divergent clinical presentations including differences in rates of cardiomyopathy in humans, different vector species and transmission cycles, differential congenital transmission in a mouse model, and differing immune and heart inflammation response in dogs. The population structure of these strains divides into two groups, which are geographically and clinically distinct. The aim of this study was to compare the transcriptome of two strains of T. cruzi, Sylvio vs. Y, to identify differences in expression that could account for clinical and biochemical differences. We collected and sequenced RNA from T. cruzi-infected and control Human Foreskin Fibroblasts at three timepoints. Differential expression analysis identified gene expression different timepoints in Sylvio infections, and between Sylvio and Y infections in both parasite and host. The Sylvio strain parasite and the host response to Sylvio infection largely mirrored the host-pathogen interaction seen in our previous Y strain work. IL-8 was more highly expressed in Sylvio-infected HFFs than in Y-infected HFFs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Genevieve A. Houston-Ludlam
- Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics, College of Computational, Mathematical and Natural Science, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, United States of America
- Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, University of Maryland Institute for Advanced Computer Studies (UMIACS), University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, United States of America
| | - A. Trey Belew
- Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics, College of Computational, Mathematical and Natural Science, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, United States of America
- Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, University of Maryland Institute for Advanced Computer Studies (UMIACS), University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, United States of America
| | - Najib M. El-Sayed
- Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics, College of Computational, Mathematical and Natural Science, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, United States of America
- Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, University of Maryland Institute for Advanced Computer Studies (UMIACS), University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, United States of America
- * E-mail:
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The nuclear envelope and gene organization in parasitic protozoa: Specializations associated with disease. Mol Biochem Parasitol 2016; 209:104-113. [PMID: 27475118 DOI: 10.1016/j.molbiopara.2016.07.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2016] [Revised: 07/12/2016] [Accepted: 07/26/2016] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
The parasitic protozoa Trypanosoma brucei and Plasmodium falciparum are lethal human parasites that have developed elegant strategies of immune evasion by antigenic variation. Despite the vast evolutionary distance between the two taxa, both parasites employ strict monoallelic expression of their membrane proteins, variant surface glycoproteins in Trypanosomes and the var, rif and stevor genes in Plasmodium, in order to evade their host's immune system. Additionally, both telomeric location and epigenetic controls are prominent features of these membrane proteins. As such, telomeres, chromatin structure and nuclear organization all contribute to control of gene expression and immune evasion. Here, we discuss the importance of epigenetics and sub-nuclear context for the survival of these disease-causing parasites.
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Mensah GA, Burns KM, Peprah EK, Sampson UKA, Engelgau MM. Opportunities and challenges in chronic Chagas cardiomyopathy. Glob Heart 2016; 10:203-7. [PMID: 26407517 DOI: 10.1016/j.gheart.2015.08.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- George A Mensah
- Center for Translation Research and Implementation Science, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
| | - Kristin M Burns
- Division of Cardiovascular Sciences, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Emmanuel K Peprah
- Center for Translation Research and Implementation Science, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Uchechukwu K A Sampson
- Center for Translation Research and Implementation Science, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Michael M Engelgau
- Center for Translation Research and Implementation Science, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
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