AI Article Synopsis
- ADF/cofilins are key proteins regulating actin dynamics and are important for cell movement, particularly in organisms like Leishmania and Trypanosoma that rely on flagella.
- The study involved knocking out the ADF/cofilin gene in Leishmania, resulting in mutants that were immotile, had shorter flagella, and showed significant structural and functional impairments.
- Restoring the ADF/cofilin gene in these mutants corrected their structure and allowed normal flagellar movement, underscoring its crucial role in flagellar assembly and motility in these eukaryotic cells.
Article Abstract
ADF/cofilins are ubiquitous actin dynamics-regulating proteins that have been mainly implicated in actin-based cell motility. Trypanosomatids, e.g. Leishmania and Trypanosoma, which mediate their motility through flagellum, also contain a putative ADF/cofilin homologue, but its role in flagellar motility remains largely unexplored. We have investigated the role of this protein in assembly and motility of the Leishmania flagellum after knocking out the ADF/cofilin gene by targeted gene replacement. The resultant mutants were completely immotile, short and stumpy, and had reduced flagellar length and severely impaired beat. In addition, the assembly of the paraflagellar rod was lost, vesicle-like structures were seen throughout the length of the flagellum and the state and distribution of actin were altered. However, episomal complementation of the gene restored normal morphology and flagellar function. These results for the first time indicate that the actin dynamics-regulating protein ADF/cofilin plays a critical role in assembly and motility of the eukaryotic flagellum.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2958.2008.06448.x | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
Split-Cre-mediated GFP expression as a permanent marker for flagellar fusion of in its tsetse fly host.
mBio
December 2024
Institute of Cell Biology, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
Unlabelled: Trypanosomes have different ways of communicating with each other. While communication via quorum sensing, or by the release and uptake of extracellular vesicles, is widespread in nature, the phenomenon of flagellar fusion has only been observed in . We showed previously that a small proportion of procyclic culture forms (corresponding to insect midgut forms) can fuse their flagella and exchange cytosolic and membrane proteins.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiogenesis of EVs in Trypanosomatids.
Curr Top Membr
October 2024
Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Parasitology, Escola Paulista de Medicina, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil; Antimicrobial Resistance Institute of São Paulo (Aries), São Paulo, Brazil. Electronic address:
Trypanosomes are protozoan parasites responsible for human diseases such as Chagas disease, African trypanosomiasis, and leishmaniasis. These organisms' growth in various environments and exhibit multiple morphological stages, while adapting their surface components. They acquire and release materials extensively to get nutrients and manage interactions with the extracellular environment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAnalysis of the Leishmania mexicana promastigote cell cycle using imaging flow cytometry provides new insights into cell cycle flexibility and events of short duration.
PLoS One
October 2024
School of Infection and Immunity, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom.
Promastigote Leishmania mexicana have a complex cell division cycle characterised by the ordered replication of several single-copy organelles, a prolonged S phase and rapid G2 and cytokinesis phases, accompanied by cell cycle stage-associated morphological changes. Here we exploit these morphological changes to develop a high-throughput and semi-automated imaging flow cytometry (IFC) pipeline to analyse the cell cycle in live L. mexicana.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDiscovery of essential kinetoplastid-insect adhesion proteins and their function in Leishmania-sand fly interactions.
Nat Commun
August 2024
Department of Biological and Medical Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, UK.
Leishmania species, members of the kinetoplastid parasites, cause leishmaniasis, a neglected tropical disease, in millions of people worldwide. Leishmania has a complex life cycle with multiple developmental forms, as it cycles between a sand fly vector and a mammalian host; understanding their life cycle is critical to understanding disease spread. One of the key life cycle stages is the haptomonad form, which attaches to insect tissues through its flagellum.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDiscriminating motilities: Coordinating IFT with flagellar beating patterns.
J Cell Biol
September 2024
Trypanosome Cell Biology Unit, Institut Pasteur, Université de Paris Cité, INSERM , Paris, France.
Intraflagellar transport has traditionally been studied in immobilized flagella. In this issue, Gray et al. (https://doi.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWant AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!