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| Author(s): |
Arina Marina Perez
Total Authors: 1
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| Document type: | Doctoral Thesis |
| Press: | Campinas, SP. |
| Institution: | Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Instituto de Biologia |
| Defense date: | 2013-04-19 |
| Examining board members: |
Maria Isabel Nogueira Cano;
Jörg Kobarg;
Marcelo Brocchi;
Mario Henrique de Barros;
Jose Franco da Silveira Filho
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| Advisor: | Maria Isabel Nogueira Cano |
| Abstract | |
LaRbp38 is a trypanosomatid protein found exclusively in these protozoa, among which are the etiological agents of leishmaniasis, an endemic disease present in several regions of Brazil. LaRbp38 is a protein encoded by a nuclear gene, which probably plays different roles in both mitochondrial and nuclear replication machineries. It was first described as a mitochondrial RNA stabilizing protein involved in the replication of mitochondrial DNA. In Leishmania, LaRbp38 also interacts in vivo with mitochondrial DNA, GT-rich sequences and single- and double-stranded telomeric DNA. Here we show the results that led us to characterize some new biological and structural features of this protein. In the first part of the thesis we show that the entire LaRbp38 and its truncated mutants are able to interacts with different GT-rich DNAs and were possible to map the boundearies of a DNA-binding domain (DBD). This domain doesn't share any sequence or structural similarities with the domains described in other proteins suggesting that it could be a new domain present exclusively in trypanosomatids. These results are compiled in the article entitled: "Mapping the boundaries of the DNA-binding domain of Leishmania amzonensis Rbp38 (LaRbp38)." The second part of the thesis shows the subcellular localization of the protein and how it is able to translocate to different cellular compartments using an N-terminal mitochondrial localization signal (MLS) and a nuclear localization signal (NLS) present in the C-terminus of the protein. Although the protein is seem more abundantly in the mitochondria associated with kinetoplast DNA, its nuclear localization seems to be cell cycle dependent and enhanced at the end of S phase or when parasites are subjected to genotoxic stress. In order to confirm that the protein is able to translocate to the nucleus, we used different in silico approaches. The results strongly suggest the existence of a non-classical and also non-bipartite NLS at the C-terminus of LaRbp38. Based on these findings we did protein-protein interaction assays and verified that LaRbp38 can associate in vitro with importin ?, which is directly linked to protein transport to the nucleus via a NLS. These results were also compiled in an article, which is in preparation, entitled: The LaRbp38 protein translocates between the nucleus and the kinetoplast in Leishmania amazonensis promastigotes. Another study that was carried out and present in the third part of the thesis shows evidence about the interaction between LaRbp38 and the telomeric L.amazonensis LaTRF protein. These results are presented as an article entitled: "LaRbp38 can form part of a shelterina-like complex in L.amazonensis telomeres," Here, an in silico analysis search for conserved motifs in LaRbp38, showed that this protein contains a motif, the TRFH-docking-like typically found in proteins that associate with the TRF paralogue proteins (TRF1 and TRF2) in the shelterin complex of vertebrates and mammallian telomeres (eg.TIN2, PINX1 and APOLLO). TRFs and their interactors work together to regulate the dynamics of telomeric chromatin and telomere length maintenance. By using protein-protein interaction assays we show that LaRbp38 physically interacts with LaTRF. This interaction, however, seems to occurs via a new TRFH docking motif, which is different from the conserved core motif [FY]xLxP. This new TRFH-docking-like motif (ALKTL) aligns and share similarities with the TRH-docking motif described in the shelterin protein TIN2. This motif is also very conserved among the Rbp38 orthologues of other trypanosomatids. Curiously, TIN2 is a telomeric protein that shows nuclear and mitochondrial localization (AU) | |