Myristoyl-CoA protein:NMT (N-myristoyl transferase) catalyses the N-myristoylation of cellular proteins with a range of functions and is essential for viability in the protozoan parasites, Leishmania major and Trypanosoma brucei. In our investigations to define the essential downstream targets of NMT, we have focused on the ARF (ADP-ribosylation factor) family of proteins, as growth arrest in Saccharomyces cerevisiae mutants with reduced NMT activity correlates with decreased modification of members of this group of proteins. We have identified nine ARF/ARLs (where ARL stands for ARF-like) encoded in the T. brucei and T. cruzi genomes and ten in L. major. The T. brucei ARL1 protein is expressed only in the mammalian bloodstream form of the parasite, in which it is localized to the Golgi apparatus. RNAi (RNA interference) has been used to demonstrate that ARL1 is essential for viability in these infective cells. Before cell death, depletion of ARL1 protein results in disintegration of the Golgi structure and a delay in exocytosis of the abundant GPI (glycosylphosphatidylinositol)-anchored VSG (variant surface glycoprotein) to the parasite surface.
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Conference Article|
August 01 2005
ARL1 has an essential role in Trypanosoma brucei
H.P. Price;
H.P. Price
1
*Immunology and Infection Unit, Department of Biology, Hull York Medical School, University of York, Heslington, York YO10 5YW, U.K.
1To whom correspondence should be addressed (email hp502@york.ac.uk).
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D. Goulding;
D. Goulding
†Centre for Molecular Microbiology and Infection, Department of Biological Sciences, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, U.K.
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D.F. Smith
D.F. Smith
*Immunology and Infection Unit, Department of Biology, Hull York Medical School, University of York, Heslington, York YO10 5YW, U.K.
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Publisher: Portland Press Ltd
Received:
March 14 2005
Online ISSN: 1470-8752
Print ISSN: 0300-5127
© 2005 The Biochemical Society
2005
Biochem Soc Trans (2005) 33 (4): 643–645.
Article history
Received:
March 14 2005
Citation
H.P. Price, D. Goulding, D.F. Smith; ARL1 has an essential role in Trypanosoma brucei. Biochem Soc Trans 1 August 2005; 33 (4): 643–645. doi: https://doi.org/10.1042/BST0330643
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