Antigenic variation in Trypanosoma brucei: facts, challenges and mysteries.
Antigenic variation allows African trypanosomes to develop chronic infections in mammalian hosts. This process results from the alternative occurrence of transcriptional switching and DNA recombination targeted to a telomeric locus that contains the gene of the variant antigen and is subjected to mono-allelic expression control. So far, the identification of mechanisms and factors involved still resists technological developments and genome sequencing.
Pays
Etienne
E
Laboratory of Molecular Parasitology, IBMM, Free University of Brussels, 12, rue des Professeurs Jeener et Brachet, B6041 Gosselies, Belgium. epays@ulb.ac.be
Vanhamme
Luc
L
Pérez-Morga
David
D
D000818:Animals; D000940:Antigenic Variation; D014346:Trypanosoma brucei brucei / Q000235:genetics*; D014643:Variant Surface Glycoproteins, Trypanosoma / Q000235:genetics*
D014643:Variant Surface Glycoproteins, Trypanosoma