Trypanosoma cruzi specific protein-protein interactions of the stalk components may be linked with structural features of the parasite 80S ribosome as assessed by Cryo-EM

MARIANO J. LEVIN; MAXIMILIANO JURI AYUB; HAIXIAO GAO; JOACHIM FRANK

Seattle, Washington, USA

Congreso; TRI-TRYP Genomes; 2004

Seattle Biomedical Research Institute

The large subunit of the eukaryotic ribosome possesses a long and protruding stalk formed by the ribosomal P proteins. Data mining of the Trypanosoma cruzi genome data base allowed to characterize the complete set of the parasite P proteins formed by a P0 protein of 38 kDa,  TcP0, two P1 (TcP1á and TcP1â) and two P2 (TcP2á and TcP2â) peptides. The corresponding ORFs were cloned in the GATEWAY system. A yeast two-hybrid protein-protein interaction map revealed a parasite-specific profile of interactions with a pivotal role for P0. The cryo-EM reconstruction of the Trypanosome cruzi 80S ribosome, and its comparison to yeast shows several parasite-specific ribosomal features, including a short stalk that may be linked to the peculiar structure and protein interaction properties of P0.