Characterization of the major surface glycoconjugates of Trypanosoma theileri

Rupa Nagar, Isobel Hambleton, Michele Tinti, Mark Carrington (Lead / Corresponding author), Michael A. J. Ferguson (Lead / Corresponding author)

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)
57 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Trypanosoma theileri maintains a long-term extracellular infection with a low parasitaemia in bovids. The surface of this parasite is predicted to be decorated with several surface molecules including membrane surface proteases (MSPs), trans-sialidases and T. theileri putative surface proteins (TTPSPs). However, there are no experimental data to verify this hypothesis. Here, we have purified and partially characterized the surface glycoconjugates of T. theileri using biochemical and mass spectrometry-based approaches. The glycoconjugates fall into two classes: glycoproteins and glycolipids. Proteomic analysis of the glycoprotein fraction demonstrated the presence of MSPs and abundant mucin-like TTPSPs, with most predicted to be GPI-anchored. Mass spectrometric characterization of the glycolipid fraction showed that these are mannose- and galactose-containing glycoinositolphospholipids (GIPLs) that are larger and more diverse than those of its phylogenetic relative T. cruzi, containing up to 10 hexose residues and carrying either alkylacyl-phosphatidylinositol or inositol-phospho-ceramide (IPC) lipid components.

Original languageEnglish
Article number111591
Number of pages9
JournalMolecular and Biochemical Parasitology
Volume256
Early online date29 Aug 2023
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2023

Keywords

  • Trypanosoma theileri
  • Glycoconjugate
  • Glycoinositolphospholipids
  • Glycosylphosphatidylinositol
  • Mucin
  • Mass-spectrometry

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Characterization of the major surface glycoconjugates of Trypanosoma theileri'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this