Dataset Information

Divergent metabolism between Trypanosoma congolense and Trypanosoma brucei results in differential sensitivity to metabolic inhibition

ABSTRACT: Animal African Trypanosomiasis (AAT) is a debilitating livestock disease prevalent across sub-Saharan Africa, a main cause of which is the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma congolense. In comparison to the well-studied T. brucei, there is a major paucity of knowledge regarding the biology of T. congolense. Here, we use a combination of omics technologies and novel genetic tools to characterise core metabolism in T. congolense mammalian-infective bloodstream-form parasites, and test whether metabolic differences compared to T. brucei impact upon sensitivity to metabolic inhibition. Like the bloodstream stage of T. brucei, glycolysis plays a major part in T. congolense energy metabolism. However, the rate of glucose uptake is significantly lower in bloodstream stage T. congolense, with cells remaining viable when cultured in concentrations as low as 2 mM. Instead of pyruvate, the primary glycolytic endpoints are succinate, malate and acetate. Transcriptomics analysis showed higher levels of transcripts associated with the mitochondrial pyruvate dehydrogenase complex, acetate generation, and the glycosomal succinate shunt in T. congolense, compared to T. brucei. Stable-isotope labelling of glucose enabled the comparison of carbon usage between T. brucei and T. congolense, highlighting differences in nucleotide and saturated fatty acid metabolism. To validate the metabolic similarities and differences, both species were treated with metabolic inhibitors, confirming that electron transport chain activity is not essential in T. congolense. However, the parasite exhibits increased sensitivity to inhibition of mitochondrial pyruvate import, compared to T. brucei. Strikingly, T. congolense exhibited significant resistance to inhibitors of fatty acid synthesis, including a 780-fold higher EC50 for the lipase and fatty acid synthase inhibitor Orlistat, compared to T. brucei. These data highlight that bloodstream form T. congolense diverges from T. brucei in key areas of metabolism, with several features that are intermediate between bloodstream- and insect-stage T. brucei. These results have implications for drug development, mechanisms of drug resistance and host-pathogen interactions.

INSTRUMENT(S): Liquid Chromatography MS - alternating - hilic

SUBMITTER: Pieter Steketee

PROVIDER: MTBLS2372 | MetaboLights | 2021-07-20

REPOSITORIES: MetaboLights

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Publications

Divergent metabolism between Trypanosoma congolense and Trypanosoma brucei results in differential sensitivity to metabolic inhibition.

Steketee Pieter C PC Dickie Emily A EA Iremonger James J Crouch Kathryn K Paxton Edith E Jayaraman Siddharth S Alfituri Omar A OA Awuah-Mensah Georgina G Ritchie Ryan R Schnaufer Achim A Rowan Tim T de Koning Harry P HP Gadelha Catarina C Wickstead Bill B Barrett Michael P MP Morrison Liam J LJ

PLoS pathogens 20210726 7

Animal African Trypanosomiasis (AAT) is a debilitating livestock disease prevalent across sub-Saharan Africa, a main cause of which is the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma congolense. In comparison to the well-studied T. brucei, there is a major paucity of knowledge regarding the biology of T. congolense. Here, we use a combination of omics technologies and novel genetic tools to characterise core metabolism in T. congolense mammalian-infective bloodstream-form parasites, and test whether metaboli ...[more]

PMID: 34310651

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Project description:Trypanosoma brucei subspecies infect humans and animals in sub-Saharan Africa. This early diverging eukaryote shows many novel features in basic biological processes, including the use of polycistronic transcription to generate all protein-coding mRNAs. Therefore we hypothesized that translational control provides a means to tune gene expression during parasite development in mammalian and fly hosts. We used ribosome profiling to examine genome-wide protein production in animal-derived slender bloodstream forms and cultured procyclic (insect midgut) forms. About one-third of all CDSs showed statistically significant regulation of protein production between the two stages. Of these, more than two-thirds showed a change in translation efficiency, but few were controlled by this parameter alone. Ribosomal proteins were translated poorly, especially in animal-derived parasites. A disproportionate number of metabolic enzymes were up-regulated at the mRNA level in procyclic forms, as were variant surface glycoproteins in bloodstream forms. Comparison with cultured bloodstream forms from another strain identified stage-specific changes in protein production that transcend strain and growth conditions. Genes with upstream ORFs had a lower mean translation efficiency but no evidence was seen for involvement of these ORFs in stage-regulation. Ribosome profiling revealed that differences in the production of specific proteins in T. brucei slender bloodstream and procyclic forms are more common than anticipated from analysis of mRNA abundance. While in vivo and in vitro derived slender bloodstream forms of different strains are more similar to one another than to procyclic forms, they showed numerous differences at both the mRNA and protein production level. Ribosome profiling and mRNA libraries were constructed in triplicate from in vitro PCF and in vivo BF lifestages of theT. brucei Treu927 and in vitro T. brucei Lister427, to evaluate role of translational gene regulation

Dataset Information

Divergent metabolism between Trypanosoma congolense and Trypanosoma brucei results in differential sensitivity to metabolic inhibition

Publications

Divergent metabolism between Trypanosoma congolense and Trypanosoma brucei results in differential sensitivity to metabolic inhibition.

Similar Datasets

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