title: The role of glycolipid C in the GPI biosynthetic pathway in Trypanosoma brucei bloodstream forms.
abstract: The glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) biosynthetic pathway in Trypanosoma brucei bloodstream forms includes the formation of glycolipid C. This molecule is the inositol-acylated form of the GPI anchor precursor, glycolipid A. There is no evidence for the transfer of glycolipid C to protein in vivo and the role of glycolipid C is unclear. In this paper we show that glycolipid C is not synthesised in the presence of phenylmethylsulphonyl fluoride (PMSF) and that glycolipid C is not an obligatory intermediate on the pathway to the formation of glycolipid A. Using pulse-chase experiments we show that glycolipid A and glycolipid C are in a dynamic equilibrium and we suggest that only the forward reaction (glycolipid A conversion to glycolipid C) is inhibited by PMSF.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, University of Dundee, Scotland, UK.
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Güther
authors.forename: W J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Masterson
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Ferguson
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006017:Glycolipids / Q000502:physiology*; D017261:Glycosylphosphatidylinositols / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D010664:Phenylmethylsulfonyl Fluoride / Q000378:metabolism; D015800:Protozoan Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D014346:Trypanosoma brucei brucei / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D006017:Glycolipids; D017261:Glycosylphosphatidylinositols; D015800:Protozoan Proteins; D010664:Phenylmethylsulfonyl Fluoride