title: The expression of the major shed Trypanosoma cruzi antigen results from the developmentally-regulated transcription of a small gene family.
abstract: To better understand the mechanisms involved in the developmental expression of Trypanosoma cruzi antigens we examined the gene structure and transcription properties of the major shed trypomastigote antigen (SAPA). We report in this paper that SAPA is encoded by a small family of at lest 6 genes which differ mainly in the length of a repeat region made up of tandemly arranged 36-bp repeat units. SAPA genes are located distant from chromosomal telomeres as inferred from their insensitivity to Bal31 nuclease treatment. Furthermore, Northern blot and S1 protection analyses strongly support the fact that most (or all) SAPA genes are transcribed in the infective form of the parasite.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas Fundación Campomar, Avenida Patricias Argentina, Buenos Aires.
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Affranchino
authors.forename: G D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Pollevick
authors.forename: A C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Frasch
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000953:Antigens, Protozoan / Q000235:genetics*; D015152:Blotting, Northern; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006801:Humans; D005810:Multigene Family; D015183:Restriction Mapping; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014158:Transcription, Genetic; D014349:Trypanosoma cruzi / Q000276:immunology*; D014709:Vero Cells / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D000953:Antigens, Protozoan