title: The C-terminal tail of tetraspanin proteins regulates their intracellular distribution in the parasite Trichomonas vaginalis.
abstract: The parasite Trichomonas vaginalis is the causative agent of trichomoniasis, a prevalent sexually transmitted infection. Here, we report the cellular analysis of T.vaginalis tetraspanin family (TvTSPs). This family of membrane proteins has been implicated in cell adhesion, migration and proliferation in vertebrates. We found that the expression of several members of the family is up-regulated upon contact with vaginal ectocervical cells. We demonstrate that most TvTSPs are localized on the surface and intracellular vesicles and that the C-terminal intracellular tails of surface TvTSPs are necessary for proper localization. Analyses of full-length TvTSP8 and a mutant that lacks the C-terminal tail indicates that surface-localized TvTSP8 is involved in parasite aggregation, suggesting a role for this protein in parasite : parasite interaction.
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Parásitos Anaerobios, Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas-Instituto Tecnologico Chascomús (IIB-INTECH), CONICET-UNSAM, Chascomus, B7130IWA, Argentina.
authors.forename: V M
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Coceres
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Parásitos Anaerobios, Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas-Instituto Tecnologico Chascomús (IIB-INTECH), CONICET-UNSAM, Chascomus, B7130IWA, Argentina.
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Alonso
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Parásitos Anaerobios, Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas-Instituto Tecnologico Chascomús (IIB-INTECH), CONICET-UNSAM, Chascomus, B7130IWA, Argentina.
authors.forename: Y R
authors.initials: YR
authors.lastname: Nievas
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Midlej
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Parásitos Anaerobios, Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas-Instituto Tecnologico Chascomús (IIB-INTECH), CONICET-UNSAM, Chascomus, B7130IWA, Argentina.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Frontera
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.|Unigranrio, Universidade do Grande Rio, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Benchimol
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Immunology, Molecular Genetics, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 90095-1489, USA.
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Parásitos Anaerobios, Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas-Instituto Tecnologico Chascomús (IIB-INTECH), CONICET-UNSAM, Chascomus, B7130IWA, Argentina.
authors.forename: N
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3864-0703
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: de Miguel
mesh_terms: D002449:Cell Aggregation; D022162:Cytoplasmic Vesicles / Q000737:chemistry; D004252:DNA Mutational Analysis; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000469:parasitology; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000032:analysis; D021381:Protein Transport; D059470:Tetraspanins / Q000032:analysis*; D014246:Trichomonas vaginalis / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D008565:Membrane Proteins; D059470:Tetraspanins