title: Entamoeba histolytica: identification and characterization of an N-ethylmaleimide sensitive fusion protein homologue.
abstract: Entamoeba histolytica is a phagocytic cell with numerous vesicles of different sizes and shapes but without a well-defined Golgi apparatus. Despite this, genes implied in membrane trafficking have been identified in the genome of this parasite. One of these genes is homologous to the N-ethylmaleimide sensitive fusion factor (NSF), whose protein has been shown to play an important role in vesicle fusion in other eukaryotic cells. In this report, we investigated the NSF homologue gene from a pathogenic E. histolytica, characterized its protein product and two of its activities, ATPase and in vitro intra-Golgi transport. The finding of an active NSF protein in E. histolytica indicates that a simple or primordial Golgi apparatus probably exists in this microorganism, as has been proposed by others.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Chemistry, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.
authors.forename: Pazit
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Libros-Ziv
authors.forename: Eduardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Villalobo
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mirelman
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001692:Biological Transport; D015153:Blotting, Western; D004748:Entamoeba histolytica / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics; D006056:Golgi Apparatus / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D052066:N-Ethylmaleimide-Sensitive Proteins; D010802:Phylogeny; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D033921:Vesicular Transport Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D033921:Vesicular Transport Proteins; D052066:N-Ethylmaleimide-Sensitive Proteins