Skip Navigation



Glycobiology Advance Access published online on July 21, 2005
Glycobiology, doi:10.1093/glycob/cwj023
This Article
Right arrow Advance Access manuscript (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
15/12/1359    most recent
cwj023v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Penha, L. L.
Right arrow Articles by de A. Lima, A. P. C.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Penha, L. L.
Right arrow Articles by de A. Lima, A. P. C.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2005. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oupjournals.org
Received June 2, 2005
Revised July 18, 2005
Accepted July 20, 2005

Article

Cloning and characterization of the phosphoglucomutase of Trypanosoma cruzi and functional complementation of a Saccharomyces cerevisiae PGM null mutant

Luciana L. Penha 1, Lucia Mendonça-Previato 1*, Jose O. Previato 1, Julio Scharfstein 1, Norton Heise 2, and Ana Paula C. de A. Lima 2

1 Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Centro de Ciências da Saúde - Bloco G, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, 2194-970, Cidade Universitária, Ilha do Fundão, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil
2 Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Centro de Ciências da Saúde - Bloco G, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, 2194-970, Cidade Universitária, Ilha do Fundão, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil; equal senior authors

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Lucia Mendonça-Previato, E-mail: luciamp{at}biof.ufrj.br


  Abstract

Trypanosoma cruzi is the etiological agent of Chagas’ disease, a chronic illness characterized by progressive cardiomyopathy and/or denervation of the digestive tract. The parasite surface is covered with glycoconjugates such as mucin-type glycoproteins and glycoinositolphospholipids (GIPL) whose glycans are rich in galactopyranose (Galp) and/or galactofuranose (Galf) residues. These molecules have been implicated in attachment of the parasite to and invasion of mammalian cells, and in modulation of the host immune responses during infection. In T. cruzi, galactose (Gal) biosynthesis depends on the conversion of UDP-glucose (Glc) into UDP-Gal by an NAD-dependent reduction catalysed by UDP-Gal 4-epimerase. Phosphoglucomutase (PGM) is a key enzyme in this metabolic pathway catalysing the interconversion of Glc-6-phosphate (P) and Glc-1-P which is then converted into UDP-Glc. We here report the cloning of T. cruzi PGM, encoding T. cruzi PGM, and the heterologous expression of a functional enzyme in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. T. cruzi PGM is a single copy gene encoding a predicted protein sharing 61 % aminoacid identity with Leishmania major PGM and 43 % with the yeast enzyme. The 5’ trans-splicing site of PGM RNA was mapped to a region located 18 base pairs upstream of the start codon. Expression of T. cruzi PGM in a S. cerevisiae null mutant lacking genes encoding both isoforms of PGM (pgm1{Delta}/pgm2{Delta}) rescued the lethal phenotype induced upon cell growth on Gal as sole carbon source.

Keywords: Trypanosoma cruzi/Chagas disease/Phosphoglucomutase/Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 GlycobiologyHome page
L. L Penha, C. B Sant'Anna, L. Mendonca-Previato, N. L Cunha-e-Silva, J. O Previato, and A. P. C A Lima
Sorting of phosphoglucomutase to glycosomes in Trypanosoma cruzi is mediated by an internal domain
Glycobiology, December 1, 2009; 19(12): 1462 - 1472.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.