TfVPS32 Regulates Cell Division in the Parasite Tritrichomonas foetus

IRIARTE, LUCRECIA S.; MIDLEJ, VICTOR; FRONTERA, LORENA S.; MOROS DUARTE, DANIEL; BARBEITO, CLAUDIO G.; DE SOUZA, WANDERLEY; BENCHIMOL, MARLENE; DE MIGUEL, NATALIA; COCERES, VERONICA M.

JOURNAL OF EUKARYOTIC MICROBIOLOGY

WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC

Año: 2018

1066-5234

The flagellated protist Tritrichomonasfoetus is a parasite that causes bovine trichomonosis, amajor sexually transmitted disease in cattle. Cell division has been describedas a key player in controlling cell survival in other cells, includingparasites but there is no information on the regulation of this process in T.foetus. The regulation of cytokinetic abscission, the final stage of celldivision, is mediated by members of the ESCRT (endosomal sorting complexrequired for transport) machinery. VPS32is a subunit within the ESCRTIIIcomplex and here, we report that TfVPS32 is localized on cytoplasmic vesiclesand a redistribution of the protein to the midbody is observed duringthe cellular division. In concordance with its localization, deletion of TfVPS32C-terminal alpha helices (α5helix and/or α4-5 helix) leadsto abnormal T. foetus growth, anincrease in the percentage of multinucleated parasites and cell cycle arrestat G2/Mphase.Together, these results indicate a role of this protein in controlling normal celldivision.