title: Regulatory elements in the 3' untranslated region of the GP82 glycoprotein are responsible for its stage-specific expression in Trypanosoma cruzi metacyclic trypomastigotes.
abstract: Gene expression in Trypanosoma cruzi is regulated at the post-transcriptional level and cis-acting elements present in the 3' untranslated region (3'UTR) play an important role by interacting with regulatory proteins. Previous studies demonstrated that the GP82 surface glycoprotein, which is involved in host cell invasion, is up-regulated in the infective metacyclic trypomastigote form, and that GP82 mRNA half-life is longer in this form compared to the non-infective epimastigote form. Here, we demonstrate that the 3'UTR of the GP82 transcript is involved in this developmental regulation, promoting higher expression of the green fluorescent protein (GFP) reporter in metacyclic trypomastigotes than in epimastigotes. A series of stepwise deletions in the 3'UTR was created and results suggest that the mechanism regulating GP82 expression involves multiple elements in the 3'UTR.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Microbiologia, Imunologia e Parasitologia, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, UNIFESP, Rua Botucatu 862, CEP 04023-062 São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Ethel
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bayer-Santos
authors.forename: Luciana Girotto
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Gentil
authors.forename: Esteban Maurício
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Cordero
authors.forename: Paulo Roberto Ceridório
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Corrêa
authors.forename: José Franco
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: da Silveira
mesh_terms: D020413:3' Untranslated Regions; D004252:DNA Mutational Analysis; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D017930:Genes, Reporter; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics; D014176:Protein Biosynthesis; D015800:Protozoan Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics*; D017384:Sequence Deletion; D014349:Trypanosoma cruzi / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development*; D014643:Variant Surface Glycoproteins, Trypanosoma / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D020413:3' Untranslated Regions; D015800:Protozoan Proteins; D014643:Variant Surface Glycoproteins, Trypanosoma; C527132:glycoprotein GP82, Trypanosoma cruzi; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins