ABSTRACT: RBP9-TAP was expressed in bloodstream T. brucei and bound mRNA was pulled down using IgG beads and eluted via TEV-protease cleavage. rRNA was depleted using RNAseH and rRNA hybridizing oligos.
Project description:Gradient fractions of RNAi of XAC1 (Tb927.7.2780) in Trypanosoma brucei bloodstream forms. RNAi was induced using tetracycline and cell extracts were fractionated into polysomal and monosome-non-ribosome-associated fractions.
Project description:Bloodstream-form trypanosomes (Lister 427) constitutively expressing ZC3H5-TAP (Tb927.3.740) were used. The protein was pulled down with an IgG column , then the protein and bound RNA was eluted using TEV protease. RNA was then sequenced from unbound (flow-through) and bound (eluate) fractions.
Project description:Nowadays, most reverse genetics approaches in Trypanosoma brucei, a protozoan parasite of medical and veterinary importance, rely on pre-established cell lines. Consequently, inducible experimentation is reduced to a few laboratory strains. Here we described a new transgene expression system based exclusively on endogenous transcription activities and a minimum set of regulatory components that can easily been adapted to different strains. The pTbFIX vectors are designed to contain the sequence of interest under the control of an inducible rRNA promoter along with a constitutive dicistronic unit encoding a nucleus targeted tetracycline repressor and puromycin resistance genes in a tandem "head-to-tail" configuration. Upon doxycycline induction, the system supports regulatable GFP expression (170 to 400 fold) in both bloodstream and procyclic T. brucei forms. Furthermore we have adapted the pTbFIX plasmid to perform RNAi experimentation. Lethal phenotypes, including ?-tubulin and those corresponding to the enolase and clathrin heavy chain genes, were successfully recapitulated in procyclic and bloodstream parasites thus showing the versatility of this new tool.
Project description:DRBD7 interacting mRNAs were identified using a DRBD7-TAP fusion protein for protein pulldown. To study enrichment, the flow-through was also subjected to RNAseq.
Project description:Two genes from Trypanosoma brucei brucei are predicted to encode Fe(II)- and alpha-ketoglutarate-dependent enzymes related to fungal thymine 7-hydroxylase. Transcription of the thymine hydroxylase-like genes is up-regulated in the bloodstream form of the parasite over the insect form, whereas Western blot analysis indicates more cross-reactive protein in the latter life stage. The genes were cloned, the proteins purified from Escherichia coli, and both proteins were shown to bind Fe(II) and alpha-ketoglutarate, confirming proper folding. The isolated proteins were incubated with Fe(II)- and alpha-ketoglutarate plus thymine, thymidine, and other putative substrates, but no activity was detected. Furthermore, no thymine 7-hydroxylase activity was detected in extracts of procyclic or bloodstream form cells. Although the functions of these proteins remain unknown, we conclude they are unlikely to be involved in thymine salvage.
Project description:The flagellum of Trypanosoma brucei is an essential and multifunctional organelle that drives parasite motility and is receiving increased attention as a potential drug target. In the mammalian host, parasite motility is suspected to contribute to infection and disease pathogenesis. However, it has not been possible to test this hypothesis owing to lack of motility mutants that are viable in the bloodstream life cycle stage that infects the mammalian host. We recently identified a bloodstream-form motility mutant in 427-derived T.?brucei in which point mutations in the LC1 dynein subunit disrupt propulsive motility but do not affect viability. These mutants have an actively beating flagellum, but cannot translocate. Here we demonstrate that the LC1 point mutant fails to show enhanced cell motility upon increasing viscosity of the surrounding medium, which is a hallmark of wild type T.?brucei, thus indicating that motility of the mutant is fundamentally altered compared with wild type cells. We next used the LC1 point mutant to assess the influence of trypanosome motility on infection in mice. Wesurprisingly found that disrupting parasite motility has no discernible effect on T.?brucei bloodstream infection. Infection time-course, maximum parasitaemia, number of waves of parasitaemia, clinical features and disease outcome are indistinguishable between motility mutant and control parasites. Our studies provide an important step toward understanding the contribution of parasite motility to infection and a foundation for future investigations of T.?brucei interaction with the mammalian host.
Project description:Mitochondrial protein translocation machinery in the kinetoplastid parasites, like Trypanosoma brucei, has been characterized poorly. In T. brucei genome database, one homolog for a protein translocator of mitochondrial inner membrane (Tim) has been found, which is closely related to Tim17 from other species. The T. brucei Tim17 (TbTim17) has a molecular mass 16.2kDa and it possesses four characteristic transmembrane domains. The protein is localized in the mitochondrial inner membrane. The level of TbTim17 protein is 6-7-fold higher in the procyclic form that has a fully active mitochondrion, than in the mammalian bloodstream form of T. brucei, where many of the mitochondrial activities are suppressed. Knockdown of TbTim17 expression by RNAi caused a cessation of cell growth in the procyclic form and reduced growth rate in the bloodstream form. Depletion of TbTim17 decreased mitochondrial membrane potential more in the procyclic than bloodstream form. However, TbTim17 knockdown reduced the expression level of several nuclear encoded mitochondrial proteins in both the forms. Furthermore, import of presequence containing nuclear encoded mitochondrial proteins was significantly reduced in TbTim17 depleted mitochondria of the procyclic as well as the bloodstream form, confirming that TbTim17 is critical for mitochondrial protein import in both developmental forms. Together, these show that TbTim17 is the translocator of nuclear encoded mitochondrial proteins and its expression is regulated according to mitochondrial activities in T. brucei.
Project description:Regions 5' of the glycosomal glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (gGAPDH) gene from Trypanosoma brucei were tested for their ability to promote chloramphenicol acetyl-transferase (CAT) expression on reintroduction by electroporation into the parasite. Deletion analysis mapped the gGAPDH promoter to within 403 nts of the start of translation. A transcription initiation site was mapped at around -190 nts from the ATG start codon by RNase protection and by primer extension. The higher expression of gGAPDH in bloodstream T. brucei, compared to procyclic (insect) forms, was largely attributed to differences in promoter activity. The gGAPDH promoter gave rise to relatively high CAT signals upon transfection into bloodstream T. brucei and relatively low signals in procyclic T. brucei, compared with levels resulting from transfection with the procyclic acidic repetitive protein (PARP) promoter. In addition, RNase protection data showed a higher level of gGAPDH primary transcripts in bloodstream. T. brucei. The PARP mini-exon addition region abolished transient CAT expression directed by either the gGAPDH or PARP promoters in bloodstream T. brucei implying that transplicing can be a point of stage-specific gene regulation.