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| Author(s): |
Maira Natali Nassar
Total Authors: 1
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| Document type: | Master's Dissertation |
| Press: | São Paulo. |
| Institution: | Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Instituto de Biociências (IBIOC/SB) |
| Defense date: | 2009-05-08 |
| Examining board members: |
Lucile Maria Floeter Winter;
Maria Carolina Quartim Barbosa Elias Sabbaga;
Maria Aparecida Visconti
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| Advisor: | Lucile Maria Floeter Winter |
| Abstract | |
Leishmaniasis is the generic name of a serious public health problem that is caused by protozoa of the genus Leishmania. In its lifecycle, the parasite has two hosts, a vertebrate and an invertebrate. The genus Leishmania is divided into two subgenera: Leishmania (Leishmania) and Leishmania (Vianna), according to the position occupied by the promastigotes form at the gut of the invertebrate host. Genes that encode ribosomal RNA are exclusively transcribed by RNA polymerase I. The promoter region of the RNA polymerase I is known to present a species-specific recognition. Previous studies, based on transient expression assays with constructions in which the expression of the reporter gene CAT was directed by different regions of the promoter showed that RNA pol I promoter in Leishmania is species-specific, but in phylogenetically related species the expression of the reporter gene is higher than in the homologous species. The structural characterization of the promoter region of RNA pol I of L. (V.) braziliensis enabled to map the site of initiation of transcription and to define the promoter region of RNA pol I. The comparison of the determined 5\' region of the ETS region, with the corresponding region of other species of the subgenus L. (Leishmania), showed a high similarity both in size, as in the sequence of nucleotides. However, the IGS region and the repetitive blocks of nucleotides have similar size but different sequences. The studies of binding of nuclear factors to the central region of the promoter showed that there was a recognition between the species counterpart L. (V.) braziliensis and the heterologous species L. (V.) guyanensis, belonging to the same subgenus and L. (L.) amazonensis, that belongs to another subgenus. The complex protein associated with this central region showed greater affinity with the heterologous species L. (V.) guyanensis. The fact that to quantify the CAT expression represents a laborious and time consuming test lead us to search for another reporter that could identified the functionality of the promoter region and at the same time allowed the quantification of expression in order to measure the strength of the promoter. In the present work, we began the standardization for the use of GFP gene as reporter in the study of the functionality of promoters. It was possible to show that GFP is detectable in confocal microscope and the cells that express GFP can be quantified in FACS, however, these findings were made possible only in parasites selected by the mark, ie in a stable transfection. So, the replacement of CAT by GFP reporter showed to be inadequate for testing promoters in transient transfection. This prevented the measure of the activity of the promoter region of L. (V.) braziliensis in different species. (AU) | |