An unusually small gene encoding a putative mucin-like glycoprotein in Trypanosoma cruzi

The Trypanosoma cruzi Mucin Family Is Transcribed from Hundreds of Genes Having Hypervariable Regions

“…Biochemical evidence suggested the existence of two groups of glycoproteins: those of apparent molecular mass 35-50 kDa (10) and others producing a large smear in Western blots from 80 to 200 kDa (6,11). The recent identification of genes encoding the parasite core protein (12,13) confirmed the existence of a gene family (14,15), although the number of members has not been estimated yet. The first T. cruzi gene isolated was shown to encode a small protein of about 16 kDa having a repetitive central domain with the consensus sequence Thr 8 -Lys-Pro 2 flanked by nonrepetitive N and C termini (12).…”

“…The recent identification of genes encoding the parasite core protein (12,13) confirmed the existence of a gene family (14,15), although the number of members has not been estimated yet. The first T. cruzi gene isolated was shown to encode a small protein of about 16 kDa having a repetitive central domain with the consensus sequence Thr 8 -Lys-Pro 2 flanked by nonrepetitive N and C termini (12). Characterization of a number of genes showed that, whereas flanking regions were conserved among strains, the central domain might vary greatly in the number of repeat units and that there * This work was supported by grants from the United Nations Developmental Program/World Bank/World Health Organization Special Program for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR), the Swedish Agency for Research Cooperation with Developing Countries (SAREC), the Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas (CONICET), Argentina, the Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Fundación Antorchas, Argentina.…”

AU-rich Elements in the 3′-Untranslated Region of a New Mucin-type Gene Family of Trypanosoma cruzi Confers mRNA Instability and Modulates Translation Efficiency

“…The first mucin-type gene in T. cruzi was reported by our group (20) and resulted in belonging to a very large and complex mucin-type gene family having highly conserved sequences at the corresponding N and C termini of the deduced protein, flanking variable central regions (21 (8,15). The mucin nature of the former group of TcMUC products is now clear (15).…”

The Protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi Has a Family of Genes Resembling the Mucin Genes of Mammalian Cells

“…Genes encoding molecules that have mucin-like features in lower eukaryotes have been detected in Leishmania major (13) and Trypanosoma cruzi (14). Particularly in T. cruzi, the ethiological agent of Chagas disease, much work has been done on the biochemical and functional characterization of mucin-like surface glycoconjugates (15).…”

“…Recent evidence suggests that these molecules are involved in the cell invasion process, probably mediating adhesion of the parasite to the mammalian cell surface (17,18). We have previously identified a putative mucin gene in T. cruzi (14) having a small size and encoding five repeat units with the consensus sequence T 8 KP 2 . In this work, we show that T. cruzi has, in fact, a putative mucin gene family resembling the one present in vertebrate cells.…”