title: Isolation and characterization of paraflagellar proteins from Trypanosoma cruzi.
abstract: Two different Trypanosoma cruzi polypeptides, with masses of 70 and 68 kDa were purified and characterized in this work. These two polypeptides designated PAR 1 and PAR 2, respectively, co-purified during each step of the isolation procedure and were found to be located exclusively in T. cruzi flagella by indirect immunofluorescence. A pre-embedding immunoelectron microscopy procedure, with a gold-tagged secondary antibody, permitted direct identification of PAR 2 as a component of the T. cruzi paraflagellar rod. PAR 1 and PAR 2 were found to be immunologically distinct and showed no cross-reactivity with actin, tubulin, intermediate filament proteins, or other proteins present in mammalian cells. The results presented indicate that PAR 1 and PAR 2 are the major components of T. cruzi paraflagellar filaments, and that these filaments have no counterpart in mammalian cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology, Cinvestav del IPN, Mexico.
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Saborio
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Manuel Hernandez
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Narayanswami
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wrightsman
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Palmer
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Manning
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000276:immunology; D015153:Blotting, Western; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins / Q000276:immunology; D005407:Flagella / Q000032:analysis*; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008970:Molecular Weight; D011506:Proteins / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D014349:Trypanosoma cruzi / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins; D011506:Proteins