Evolutionary changes in the Leishmania eIF4F complex involve variations in the eIF4E-eIF4G interactions.

ABSTRACT: Translation initiation in eukaryotes is mediated by assembly of the eIF4F complex over the m(7)GTP cap structure at the 5'-end of mRNAs. This requires an interaction between eIF4E and eIF4G, two eIF4F subunits. The Leishmania orthologs of eIF4E are structurally diverged from their higher eukaryote counterparts, since they have evolved to bind the unique trypanosomatid cap-4 structure. Here, we characterize a key eIF4G candidate from Leishmania parasites (LeishIF4G-3) that contains a conserved MIF4G domain. LeishIF4G-3 was found to coelute with the parasite eIF4F subunits from an m(7)GTP-Sepharose column and to bind directly to LeishIF4E. In higher eukaryotes the eIF4E-eIF4G interaction is based on a conserved peptide signature [Y(X(4))Lphi], where X is any amino acid and Phi is a hydrophob

SUBMITTER: Yoffe Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2691829 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature