Project description:The Tripartite Attachment Complex (TAC) is essential for mitochondrial DNA (kDNA) segregation in Trypanosoma brucei, providing a physical link between the flagellar basal body and the mitochondrial genome. Although the TAC's hierarchical assembly and linear organization have been extensively studied, much remains to be discovered regarding its complete architecture and composition – for instance, our identification of a new TACcomponent underscores these knowledge gaps. Here, we use a combination of proteomics, RNA interference (RNAi), and Ultrastructure Expansion Microscopy (U-ExM) to characterize the TAC at high resolution and identify a novel component, TAC53 (Tb927.2.6100). Depletion of TAC53 in both procyclic and bloodstream forms results in kDNA missegregation and loss, a characteristic feature of TAC dysfunction. TAC53 localizes to the kDNA in a cell cycle-dependent manner and represents the most kDNA-proximal TAC component identified to date. U-ExM reveals a previously unrecognized tubular architecture of the TAC, with two distinct TAC structures per kDNA disc, suggesting a mechanism for precise kDNA alignment and segregation. Moreover, immunoprecipitation and imaging analyses indicate that TAC53 interacts with known TAC-associated proteins HMG44, KAP68, and KAP3, forming a network at the TAC–kDNA interface. These findings redefine our understanding of TAC architecture and function and identify TAC53 as a key structural component anchoring the mitochondrial genome in T. brucei.
Project description:The Tripartite Attachment Complex (TAC) is essential for mitochondrial DNA (kDNA) segregation in Trypanosoma brucei, providing a physical link between the flagellar basal body and the mitochondrial genome. Although the TAC's hierarchical assembly and linear organization have been extensively studied, much remains to be discovered regarding its complete architecture and composition – for instance, our identification of a new TACcomponent underscores these knowledge gaps. Here, we use a combination of proteomics, RNA interference (RNAi), and Ultrastructure Expansion Microscopy (U-ExM) to characterize the TAC at high resolution and identify a novel component, TAC53 (Tb927.2.6100). Depletion of TAC53 in both procyclic and bloodstream forms results in kDNA missegregation and loss, a characteristic feature of TAC dysfunction. TAC53 localizes to the kDNA in a cell cycle-dependent manner and represents the most kDNA-proximal TAC component identified to date. U-ExM reveals a previously unrecognized tubular architecture of the TAC, with two distinct TAC structures per kDNA disc, suggesting a mechanism for precise kDNA alignment and segregation. Moreover, immunoprecipitation and imaging analyses indicate that TAC53 interacts with known TAC-associated proteins HMG44, KAP68, and KAP3, forming a network at the TAC–kDNA interface. These findings redefine our understanding of TAC architecture and function and identify TAC53 as a key structural component anchoring the mitochondrial genome in T. brucei.
Project description:Universal Minicircle Sequence binding proteins (UMSBPs) are CCHC-type zinc-finger proteins that bind the single-stranded G-rich UMS sequence, conserved at the replication origins of minicircles in the kinetoplast DNA, the mitochondrial genome of trypanosomatids. Trypanosoma brucei UMSBP2 has been recently shown to colocalize with telomeres and play an essential role in chromosome ends protection. Here we report that TbUMSBP2 decondenses in vitro DNA molecules, which were condensed by core histones H2B, H4 or linker histone H1. DNA decondensation is mediated via protein-protein interactions between TbUMSBP2 and these histones, independently of its, previously described, DNA binding activity. Silencing of the TbUMSBP2 gene resulted in a significant decrease in the disassembly of nucleosomes in T. brucei chromatin, a phenotype that could be reverted, by supplementing the knockdown cells with TbUMSBP2. Transcriptome analysis revealed that silencing of TbUMSBP2 affects the expression of multiple genes in T. brucei, with a most significant effect on the upregulation of the subtelomeric variant surface glycoproteins (VSG) genes, which mediate the antigenic variation in African trypanosomes. These observations suggest that UMSBP2 is a chromatin remodeling protein that functions in the regulation of gene expression that plays a role in the control of antigenic variation in T. brucei.
Project description:The tripartite attachment complex (TAC) is essential for mitochondrial DNA (kDNA) segregation in Trypanosoma brucei, providing a physical link between the flagellar basal body and the mitochondrial genome. Although the TAC's hierarchical assembly and linear organization have been extensively studied, much remains to be discovered regarding its complete architecture and composition – for instance, our identification of a new TAC component underscores these knowledge gaps. Here, we use a combination of proteomics, RNA interference (RNAi), and Ultrastructure Expansion Microscopy (U-ExM) to characterize the TAC at high resolution and identify a novel component, TAC53 (Tb927.2.6100). Depletion of TAC53 in both procyclic and bloodstream forms results in kDNA missegregation and loss, a characteristic feature of TAC dysfunction. TAC53 localizes to the kDNA in a cell cycle–dependent manner and represents the most kDNA-proximal TAC component identified to date. U-ExM reveals a previously unrecognized tubular architecture of the TAC, with two distinct TAC structures per kDNA disc, suggesting a mechanism for precise kDNA alignment and segregation. Moreover, immunoprecipitation and imaging analyses indicate that TAC53 interacts with known TAC-associated proteins HMG44, KAP68, and KAP3, forming a network at the TAC-kDNA interface. These findings redefine our understanding of TAC architecture and function and identify TAC53 as a key structural component anchoring the mitochondrial genome in T. brucei.
Project description:The host range of African trypanosomes is influenced by innate protective molecules in the blood of primates. A subfraction of human high-density lipoprotein (HDL) containing apolipoprotein A-I, apolipoprotein L-I, and haptoglobin-related protein is toxic to Trypanosoma brucei brucei but not the human sleeping sickness parasite Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense. It is thought that T. b. rhodesiense evolved from a T. b. brucei-like ancestor and expresses a defense protein that ablates the antitrypanosomal activity of human HDL. To directly investigate this possibility, we developed an in vitro selection to generate human HDL-resistant T. b. brucei. Here we show that conversion of T. b. brucei from human HDL sensitive to resistant correlates with changes in the expression of the variant surface glycoprotein (VSG) and abolished uptake of the cytotoxic human HDLs. Complete transcriptome analysis of the HDL-susceptible and -resistant trypanosomes confirmed that VSG switching had occurred but failed to reveal the expression of other genes specifically associated with human HDL resistance, including the serum resistance-associated gene (SRA) of T. b. rhodesiense. In addition, we found that while the original active expression site was still utilized, expression of three expression site-associated genes (ESAG) was altered in the HDL-resistant trypanosomes. These findings demonstrate that resistance to human HDLs can be acquired by T. b. brucei. Keywords: Trypanosoma, VSG, antigenic switching, HDL-resistance