title: Procyclin null mutants of Trypanosoma brucei express free glycosylphosphatidylinositols on their surface.
abstract: Procyclins are abundant, glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored proteins on the surface of procyclic (insect) form trypanosomes. To investigate whether trypanosomes are able to survive without a procyclin coat, all four procyclin genes were deleted sequentially. Bloodstream forms of the null mutant exhibited no detectable phenotype and were able to differentiate to procyclic forms. Initially, differentiated null mutant cells were barely able to grow, but after an adaptation period of 2 mo in culture they proliferated at the same rate as wild-type trypanosomes. Analysis of these culture-adapted null mutants revealed that they were covered by free GPIs. These were closely related to the mature procyclin anchor in structure and were expressed on the surface in numbers comparable with that of procyclin in wild-type cells. However, free GPIs were smaller than the procyclin anchor, indicative of a lower number of poly-N-acetyllactosamine repeats, and a proportion contained diacylphosphatidic acid. Free GPIs are also expressed by wild-type cells, although to a lesser extent. These have been overlooked in the past because they partition in a solvent fraction (chloroform/water/methanol) that is normally discarded when GPI-anchored proteins are purified.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Zellbiologie, Universität Bern, CH-3012 Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Erik
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Vassella
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bütikofer
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Engstler
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jelk
authors.forename: Isabel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Roditi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000378:metabolism; D017353:Gene Deletion; D017125:Genes, Protozoan; D017261:Glycosylphosphatidylinositols / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins / Q000235:genetics*; D015800:Protozoan Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D014346:Trypanosoma brucei brucei / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D017261:Glycosylphosphatidylinositols; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; D015800:Protozoan Proteins; C053277:procyclic acidic repetitive protein, Trypanosoma