The function of two subunits of the putative mitochondrial RNA binding complex (MRB1) associated with RNA editing in parasitic protist Trypanosoma brucei was studied using various in vivo and in vitro methods of molecular biology.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:23:05Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2011-12-08Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T18:50:18Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 arnosti_lv_me_araiq_parcial.pdf: 215593 bytes, checksum: 9aa2e576ef79aac6ab3e5f640a4d7dba (MD5) Bitstreams deleted on 2014-11-14T12:16:59Z: arnosti_lv_me_araiq_parcial.pdf,Bitstream added on 2014-11-14T12:17:45Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 000694045.pdf: 771714 bytes, checksum: 54f50f27e86e669f9973e97bc2ab3d70 (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / A família Trypanosomatidae compreende um grande número de protozoários parasitas, incluindo importantes agentes etiológicos de doenças humanas. Entre os causadores de doenças, destaca-se o Trypanosoma brucei (responsável pela Doença do Sono) e o Trypanosoma cruzi (agente causador da Doença de Chagas). Ambos possuem como mecanismo de processamento dos seus mRNAs o “trans-splicing”, que envolve a excisão de íntrons e a união dos éxons de dois transcritos independentes, o splice-leader, e o pré-mRNA aceptor. As reações de cis e trans-splicing in vitro com extrato nuclear de células HeLa já foram padronizadas e utilizada como modelo em diversos experimentos. Entretanto, em tripanosomas, as únicas referências sobre a reação de transsplicing in vitro são de Vianna et. al., (2001) e Skaked et. al., (2010), com extratos de parasitas preparados de modos diferentes. A reação com células permeáveis do Trypanosoma cruzi foi usada como modelo para análise de drogas tripanocidas na reação de trans-splicing (Barbosa et. al., 2007); porém, não é um sistema livre de células conforme mencionado acima. Diante disso, este trabalho propõe reproduzir a reação de “trans-splicing” in vitro com extratos nucleares livre de parasitas utilizando as formas epimastigotas de T. cruzi e/ou as formas prociclicas de T. brucei e uma sequência parcial de alfa tubulina de T. cruzi como pré-mRNA aceptor. A padronização desta reação in vitro possibilitará avanços no entendimento da maquinaria do trans-spliceossomo, tornando-se também um modelo interessante para avaliação de mecanismo de ação de drogas tripanocidas / Trypanosomatidae family comprises a large number of protozoan parasites, including important etiological agents of neglected human diseases. Among the diseases’ agents, Trypanosoma brucei (responsible for sleeping sickness) and Trypanosoma cruzi (causative agent of Chagas' disease) are the most important parasites. Both have trans-splicing as a mechanism for the processing of its mRNA, which involves the excision of introns and union of exons form two independent transcripts, the spliceleader (SLRNA), and the acceptor pre-mRNA. The reaction of cis-and transsplicing in vitro with nuclear extract of HeLa cells has already been standardized and used as a model in several experiments. However, in trypanosomes, the only references on the reaction of trans-splicing in vitro are from Vianna et. al., (2001) and Skaked et. al., (2010), using parasitefree extracts prepared on different methods. For trypanocidal drugs analyze, trans-splicing reaction using T. cruzi permeable cells was used as a model (Barbosa et. al., 2007), but this is not the same as free-cell nuclear extract as mentioned above. Thus, this work shows trans-splicing in vitro reaction using nuclear extracts either from T. cruzi epimastigote forms and/or T. brucei procyclic forms reacting with the T. cruzi alpHa-tubulin cloned sequence as pre-mRNA acceptor. The standardization of this in vitro reaction will be able to promote advances to understanding the transspliceosomo machinery, as well as occurred in mammalian cis- and/or trans-splicing, becoming also an interesting model for evaluating trypanocidal drugs interference

ISWI is a member of a versatile family of ATP-dependent chromatin remodelling complexes involved not only in transcription regulation (initiation, elongation and termination), but also in other cellular functions like maintenance of higher order chromatin structure and DNA replication. TbISWI, a novel ATPase of the ISWI family in Trypanosoma brucei, is involved in the transcriptional repression of silent VSG expression sites (ESs) in both bloodstream form (BF) and procyclic form (PF) life cycle stages of the parasite. Using in silico analysis, I have found that TbISWI is well conserved across the eukaryotic lineage, including those members of the order Kinetoplastida that do not exhibit antigenic variation. Compared to the ISWIs of higher eukaryotes, TbISWI has greater representation of random coils within its structure, an indicator of more structural fluidity and flexibility of interaction with multiple protein partners. Using an eGFP reporter based assay, I have studied the role of TbISWI in transcriptional repression of silent areas of the T. brucei genome. TbISWI was found to be involved in preventing inappropriate transcription of the silent VSG repertoires. TbISWI was also found to downregulate transcription in RNA pol I, but not pol II, transcription units. These results argue for the presence of at least two functionally distinct TbISWI complexes in T. brucei. Using DNA staining and fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH), I have investigated the potential effect of TbISWI depletion on cell cycle progression and minichromosome segregation. I did not find any evidence for the role of TbISWI in the maintenance of centromeric heterochromatin in T. brucei.

Trypanosomatid protozoan parasites are the causative agents of a number of diseases responsible for the death of thousands of people in developing countries. There is currently little hope for the development of vaccines and existing treatment regimens are associated with high toxicity. Trypanosoma brucei is the etiological agent of devastating parasitic disease in humans and livestock in sub-saharan Africa. The pathogenicity and growth of these parasites are intimately linked to their shape and form which are in turn derived from a highly ordered microtubule-based cytoskeleton. Here I have investigated some of the critical structures of the cytoskeleton in terms of their molecular composition with a view toward interrogating their functions. I have used a combined reverse genetics/comparative proteomics approach to identify over 20 novel components of the paraflagellar rod, an essential structure for the mammalian infective form of the parasite. I have iterated this approach to define interdependent sub-groups within the cohort which provide clues to the function of the paraflagellar rod. I next applied the same comparative proteomics techniques to investigate the differences between the protein composition of two life-cycle stages of the parasite. I have identified novel components of a unique mobile transmembrane junction called the flagella connector, and of the flagellum attachment zone, a structure that is essential for cell division. In addition I have defined a pair of paralogous cytoskeletal proteins that show life-cycle stage specificity. Finally, I have used electron tomography, reverse genetics and in situ protein tagging to define the morphology of the flagellar pocket collar, a critical structure required for parasite viability, and provide new insights into its molecular composition, function and biogenesis.

Over the past two decades movement of cattle towards the north of Uganda has enabled the Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense focus in south-eastern Uganda to spread into previously unaffected districts. This thesis brings together important epidemiological data regarding the impact of mass cattle drug treatment on the point prevalence of several different species of trypanosome in a newly endemic area of human sleeping sickness. Crucially the findings illustrate mass drug treatment is effective in reducing the prevalence of T. b. rhodesiense in cattle, thus minimising the reservoir potential of these animals in the epidemiology of human disease. During 2006 a control programme was launched to halt the northward spread of this zoonotic parasite. This programme, entitled ‘Stamping Out Sleeping Sickness’ (SOS) proposed to reduce the prevalence of Human African Trypanosomiasis (HAT) in the newly affected districts by reducing the prevalence of this parasite in the main animal reservoir of infection – domestic cattle. Cattle were mass treated using trypanocides to clear infections. Previous work demonstrated the prevalence of T. brucei s. l. and T. b. rhodesiense in cattle was higher in the districts of Dokolo and Kaberamaido than in the other SOS intervention districts (Selby 2011). To determine whether animals in these areas were also exposed to pathogenic cattle trypanosomes samples were screened for the presence of T. vivax and T. congolense savannah using PCR. Chapter three of this thesis determined the prevalence of these trypanosomes in cattle in these districts. Before treatment had taken place the prevalence of T. vivax was 2% (4/200, 95% CI 3.57 – 0.12%) in Dokolo and 7.3% (21/310, 95% CI 10.17 - 4.24 %) in Kaberamaido. The prevalence of T. congolense savannah at baseline was 3.5% (7/200, 95% CI 7.08–1.42 %) in Dokolo and 9.1% (21/230, 95% CI13.6–5.7 %) in Kaberamaido. Monitoring was conducted three, nine and 18 months post treatment and both pathogens were detected at all time points. The impact the treatment had on point prevalence varied by trypanosome species and between the two districts. Several clusters of villages in Dokolo and Kaberamaido continued to report cases of HAT after the initial SOS intervention due in part to their proximity to livestock markets (Batchelor et al., 2009). In 2008 re-treatment of these ‘high risk’ areas was undertaken. Monitoring was performed before and six months after treatment. Cattle blood samples were collected at 20 village sites from ten ‘case-positive villages’ (from which human sleeping sickness cases had been reported six months prior to June 2007) and from ten ‘case-negative villages’ (no reported human sleeping sickness cases six months prior to June 2007). These samples were screened for all of the aforementioned trypanosomes using species specific PCR protocols. Chapter five details the results of this screening, and assessed whether re-treatment in Dokolo and Kaberamaido was effective in reducing the prevalence of trypanosomiasis. The re-treatment had a dramatic effect, significantly reducing the point prevalence of overall trypanosomiasis in the 20 villages screened from 38.1% (95% CI = 40.5 – 35.79%) at baseline to 26.9% (95% CI 28.96 – 24.97, p < 0.0001) at six months. Looking at each species separately, point prevalence of three out of four detected species of trypanosome fell significantly, including T. b. rhodesiense, which was reduced to 25% of its baseline prevalence. Finally the two SOS treatment cycles were compared both statistically and spatially with emphasis on trends at village level and the occurrence of mixed infections.

Submitted by Sandra Pereira (srpereira@ufrrj.br) on 2017-08-29T14:02:13Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2009 - Breno Almeida Soares.pdf: 7105040 bytes, checksum: 3b6aebf34151816545510b0506ed3412 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-08-29T14:02:13Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2009 - Breno Almeida Soares.pdf: 7105040 bytes, checksum: 3b6aebf34151816545510b0506ed3412 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-09-25 / Coordena??o de Aperfei?oamento de Pessoal de N?vel Superior, CAPES, Brasil. / This work is part of a research project which investigates the utilization of abundant and accessible natural products in the synthesis of new molecules with potential activity against Chagas? disease. Recent studies carried out in our laboratory showed activity against Trypanosoma cruzi for piperine, a major component of Piper nigrum and for a series of its derivatives and analogues. Using bioisosterism as a strategy for molecular modification, we describe here the design, synthesis and antiparasitic evaluation of class of derivatives of 1,2,4-oxadiazole. The key step of the synthetic strategy used involved the SNAC reaction of the benzamidoxima with acid chlorides followed by cyclization, which allowed the preparation of eight new 1,2,4-oxadiazole The evaluation of the toxic activity of these new derivatives against epimastigote form of T. cruzi confirmed the bioisosteric relationship between the natural amide and the new products prepared, showing the oxadiazole 55 direct derived from piperine, as the most active compound in the series. / Este trabalho se insere numa linha de pesquisa que visa a utiliza??o de produtos naturais abundantes e access?veis na s?ntese de novas mol?culas com potencial atividade anti-chag?sica. Estudos recentes em nosso laborat?rio demonstraram a atividade antiparasit?ria da piperina e de uma s?rie de derivados e an?logos sobre o Trypanosoma cruzi, agente etiol?gico da doen?a de Chagas. Utilizando o bioisosterismo como estrat?gia de modifica??o molecular, descrevemos aqui o planejamento, a s?ntese e a avalia??o antiparasit?ria de derivados da classe dos 1,2,4-oxadiaz?is. A etapa-chave da estrat?gia sint?tica utilizada envolveu a rea??o de SNAC da benzamidoxima com cloretos de ?cidos, seguida de cicliza??o, que permitiu a prepara??o de oito novos 1,2,4- oxadiaz?is. A avalia??o da atividade t?xica destes novos derivados contra a forma epimastigota do T. cruzi confirmou a rela??o bioisost?rica entre a amida natural e os novos derivados preparados, evidenciando o oxadiazol 55 derivado direto da piperina, como o composto mais ativo da s?rie.

Trypanosoma brucei is an extracellular kineotoplastid parasite that causes human African trypanosomiasis (HAT), also known as sleeping sickness. As trypanosomes undergo vector to host transition, heavy transcriptional adaptation such as metabolic shift to glycolysis and upregulated endocytosis occurs. Specifically, glycolysis in the infectious stage becomes the sole source of energy production; thus, the glucose transport mechanism in T. brucei provides one of the most promising therapeutic targets for development of new drugs to treat HAT. Despite an established trypanosome hexose transporter (THT) model for glucose transport across the plasma membrane, there remains gaps in the detailed mechanism of glucose transport especially as it relates to glucose transport across the glycosomal membrane. Using 2-NBDG, a fluorescent glucose analog, we measured glucose uptake rates in the presence of small molecule inhibitors and by using RNA interference (RNAi) to knockdown key proteins to investigate the mechanism of glucose transport in trypanosomes. We have confirmed a direct role of THT in glucose transport of BSF trypanosomes; however, in our investigations, we observed an unexpected ATP-dependence on glucose transport in live trypanosomes, which initiated further study where we focused on the role of endocytosis as an ATP-coupled bulk glucose transport mechanism. Experimental approaches that inhibited endocytosis reduced the observed glucose uptake rate confirming a role for endocytosis-coupled glucose transport in BSF trypanosomes. We provide evidence for an endocytosis-coupled glucose transport mechanism in BSF trypanosomes as an additional and important mechanism that functions in parallel with the established THT model.

Les flagelles sont des organites essentiels chez la plupart des eucaryotes, y compris chez l’Homme. Ils possèdent une structure cylindrique composée de neuf doublets de microtubules appelée axonème qui est conservée au cours de l’évolution. Ils sont construits par un mécanisme appelé Transport IntraFlagellaire (IFT). Malgré des variations de composition et de longueur entre différents types de cils, la longueur des cils d’un type cellulaire donné est étroitement contrôlée. Toute anomalie de la longueur du flagelle ou de la machinerie IFT peut entraîner de graves dysfonctionnements cellulaires, y compris chez l'homme, où elles sont associées à des maladies génétiques appelées ciliopathies. Au cours de ma thèse, nous avons dans un premier temps étudié le rôle et le fonctionnement de l'IFT chez Trypanosoma brucei, un parasite protozoaire flagellé qui est un excellent modèle pour étudier les cils. En utilisant le FIB-SEM, nous avons démontré que les trains IFT n’étaient présents presque exclusivement que sur deux des neuf doublets microtubules de l'axonème. Puis, l'utilisation de la microscopie à haute résolution nous a permis de démontrer dans des cellules vivantes que ces deux voies sont utilisées pour l’IFT dans les deux sens sur chacun de ces doublets. Nous avons ensuite étudié les mécanismes contrôlant la longueur du flagelle et proposé un nouveau modèle appelé «grow and lock» où le flagelle s'allonge avec un taux de croissance constant jusqu'à ce qu'un signal bloque son élongation ou son raccourcissement. Pour finir nous avons étudié l’implication ce modèle durant le cycle parasitaire, lorsque de la construction de flagelles de très longueurs différentes. / Cilia and flagella are essential organelles in most eukaryotes including humans. They share a canonical cylindrical structure composed of nine doublets of microtubules called the axoneme that is conserved during evolution. They are built by an active mechanism termed Intraflagellar Transport or IFT. Despite some variations in composition and length between different types of cilia, the length for a given cell type is tightly controlled. Any defect in flagellum length or IFT machinery can lead to serious cellular dysfunctions, including in humans where it is associated to genetic diseases called ciliopathies. During my thesis, we have first investigated the role and functioning of IFT in Trypanosoma brucei a flagellated protozoan parasite that is a powerful model to investigate cilia. Using Focus Ion Beam-Scanning Electron Microscopy (FIB-SEM), we have demonstrated that IFT trains are present almost exclusively on only two out of nine microtubules doublets of the axoneme. Then, the use of high-resolution microscopy allowed us to observe in live cells that two tracks are actually used for bidirectional IFT trafficking. We have investigated mechanisms controlling flagellum length and propose a new model named “grow and lock” where the flagellum elongates at a constant growth-rate until a signal blocks further elongation or shortening. Finally this and other models have been investigated during the parasite cycle, when trypanosomes construct flagella with very different lengths.

Babesia bovis has been an important disease agent in the U.S. cattle industry for over a century. Recently, B. bovis-like parasites have been identified in white-tailed deer (WTD; Odocoileus virginianus) in Texas. If the parasites found in the WTD are B. bovis that are able to infect cattle, the disease could re-emerge. Susceptible adult cattle often die from this disease, which would result in severe production losses, as well as a decrease in carcass weights of disease survivors. The B. bovis-like parasite found in WTD was compared to B. bovis from cattle, by ribosomal DNA sequence analysis. Babesia isolated from WTD were found to have 99% identity to B. bovis from GenBank cattle sequences. No cattle samples in this study were found to be positive for B. bovis. On culture of WTD samples, a Babesia parasite could not be visualized based on common morphological features. Trypanosoma cervi has been studied for decades, but all the previous research identified this parasite solely by morphology. Trypanosoma species obtained from different host species was compared by ribosomal DNA sequence analyses. In this study, the Trypanosoma cultured from WTD had the morphological appearance of T. cervi. On sequence analysis, the cattle sequences aligned together with cattle isolates and the WTD sequences aligned closely with elk (Cervus canadensis) sequences, indicating that wild ungulates (WTD and elk) and cattle most likely have separate trypanosome species. On distribution analysis there was a trend in three South Texas counties, where the county with the highest occurrence of Trypanosoma had the lowest occurrence of Babesia; and vice versa. It is possible that Trypanosoma and Babesia blood parasites compete within the mammalian host, but the chi-squared test did not show a significant association between the two parasites in the different counties. On seasonal analysis, the correlation between positive samples and season could not be statistically confirmed, but it appears that Babesia infected animals are found in lowest numbers during hot, dry seasons. It also appears that there is another vector for Trypanosoma in South Texas besides the ked (Lipoptena mazamae) and tabanid fly (Tabanus spp.).

The membrane trafficking system mediates delivery of macromolecules and metabolites to discrete intracellular compartments from their site of uptake or synthesis. For many pathogens the trafficking system has a special relevance as it is responsible for maintaining the host-pathogen interface, i.e., the cell surface. Both the surface and the underlying trafficking apparatus are intimately connected with immune evasion in many parasites including those belonging to the highly divergent order Kinetoplastida. Kinetoplastid parasites are etiological agents of several neglected tropical diseases such as African sleeping sickness, Chagas disease, and Leishmaniasis. Newly available sequences of many kinetoplastid genomes were used to reconstruct evolution of trafficking across this lineage, using three central paralogous trafficking families: Rabs, SNAREs and Rab-GAPs, which have defined roles in specific trafficking events. Further, proteomics was used to analyse a representative SNARE complex to explore compositional conservation between kinetoplastids and Opistokhonts. Overall there is little evidence for large scale expansions or contractions of these protein families, excluding a direct association with parasitism or changes to host range, host immunosophistication or transmission mechanisms. The data indicate a stepwise sculpting of the trafficking system where the large repertoire of the basal bodonids is mainly retained by the cruzi group, while extensive lossses characterise other lineages, particularly the African trypanosomes and phytomonads. Kinetoplastids possess several lineage-specific Rabs but all retain a core canonical Rab set; by contrast there is little novelty within the SNARE family even though certain canonical endosomal SNAREs appear to show a considerable degree of sequence divergence. Proteomics suggests that SNARE complex composition is largely conserved. The major changes in Rab and SNARE repertoires are associated with endosomal and late exocytic pathways, which is consistent with the considerable evolution of surface proteomes. Therefore, despite the absence of a transition per se associated with parasitism, adaptation of membrane trafficking is likely under active selection where it meets the host environment.