Regulation of surface coat exchange by differentiating African trypanosomes

GRUSZYNSKI AE, VAN DEURSEN FJ, ALBAREDA MC, BEST A, CHAUDHARY K, CLIFFE LJ, DEL RIO L, DUNN JD, ELLIS L, EVANS KJ, FIGUEIREDO JM, MALMQUIST NA, OMOSUN Y, PALENCHAR JB, PRICKETT S, PUNKOSDY GA, VAN DOOREN G, WANG Q, MENON AK, MATTHEWS KR, BANGS JD.

MOLECULAR AND BIOCHEMICAL PARASITOLOGY

Año: 2006 vol. 147 p. 211 - 223

0166-6851

African trypanosomes (Trypanosoma brucei) have a digenetic lifecycle that alternates between the mammalian bloodstream and the tsetse fly vector. In the bloodstream, replicating long slender parasites transform into non-dividing short stumpy forms. Upon transmission into the fly midgut, short stumpy cells differentiate into actively dividing procyclics. A hallmark of this process is the replacement of the bloodstream-stage surface coat composed of variant surface glycoprotein (VSG) with a new coat composed of procyclin. Pre-existing VSG is shed by a zinc metalloprotease activity (MSP-B) and glycosylphosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C (GPI-PLC).We now provide a detailed analysis of the coordinate and inverse regulation of these activities during synchronous differentiation. MSP-B mRNA and protein levels are upregulated during differentiation at the same time as proteolysis whereas GPI-PLC levels decrease. When transcription or translation is inhibited, VSG release is incomplete and a substantial amount of protein stays cell-associated. Both modes of release are still evident under these conditions, but GPI hydrolysis plays a quantitatively minor role during normal differentiation. Nevertheless, GPI biosynthesis shifts early in differentiation from a GPI-PLC sensitive structure to a resistant procyclic-type anchor. Translation inhibition also results in a marked increase in the mRNA levels of both MSP-B and GPI-PLC, consistent with negative regulation by labile protein factors. The relegation of short stumpy surface GPI-PLC to a secondary role in differentiation suggests that it may play a more important role as a virulence factor within the mammalian host.