Mono-allelic epigenetic regulation of polycistronic transcription initiation by RNA polymerase II in <i>Trypanosoma brucei</i>.

ABSTRACT: Unique for a eukaryote, protein-coding genes in trypanosomes are arranged in polycistronic transcription units (PTUs). This genome arrangement has led to a model where Pol II transcription of PTUs is unregulated and changes in gene expression are entirely post-transcriptional. Trypanosoma brucei brucei is unable to infect humans because of its susceptibility to an innate immune complex, trypanosome lytic factor (TLF) in the circulation of humans. The initial step in TLF-mediated lysis of T.b.brucei requires high affinity haptoglobin/hemoglobin receptor (HpHbR) binding. Here, we demonstrate that by in vitro selection with TLF, resistance is obtained in a stepwise process correlating with loss of HpHbR expression at an allelic level. RNA-seq, Pol II ChIP, and run-on anal

SUBMITTER: Kieft R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11796357 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature