Trypanosoma cruzi: identification of DNA targets of the nuclear periphery coiled-coil protein TcNUP-1.
The nuclear lamina is a structure that lines the inner nuclear membrane. In metazoans, lamins are the primary structural components of the nuclear lamina and are involved in several processes. Eukaryotes that lack lamins have distinct proteins with homologous functions. Some years ago, a coiled-coil protein in Trypanosoma brucei, NUP-1, was identified as the major filamentous component of its nuclear lamina. However, its precise role has not been determined. We characterized a homologous protein in Trypanosoma cruzi, TcNUP-1, and identified its in vivo DNA binding sites using a chromatin immunoprecipitation assay. We demonstrate for the first time that TcNUP-1 associates with chromosomal regions containing large non-tandem arrays of genes encoding surface proteins. We therefore suggest that TcNUP-1 is a structural protein that plays an essential role in nuclear organization by anchoring T. cruzi chromosomes to the nuclear envelope.
Picchi
Gisele F A
GF
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Instituto Carlos Chagas, R Professor Algacyr Munhoz Mader, 3775 Cidade Industrial-Paraná, 81350-010 Curitiba, PR, Brazil. gpicchi@tecpar.br
Ferreira
Alda M T
AM
Souza
Flávia S P
FS
Lourenço
Edio E
EE
Arauco
Paulo R C
PR
Lorusso
André
A
Bordignon
Juliano
J
Krieger
Marco A
MA
Goldenberg
Samuel
S
Fragoso
Stenio P
SP
D047369:Chromatin Immunoprecipitation; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism; D009685:Nuclear Envelope / Q000737:chemistry; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D015800:Protozoan Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D014349:Trypanosoma cruzi / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
D016054:DNA, Protozoan; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D015800:Protozoan Proteins