What is it about?
Trypanosoma brucei cause human African trypanosomiasis and Nagana in animals. The finding of a mitochondrial calcium uniporter (MCU) conserved in these parasites was essential for the discovery of the gene encoding the pore subunit. Mitochondrial Ca2+ transport mediated by the MUC complex is critical in Trypanosoma brucei for shaping the dynamics of cytosolic Ca2+ increases, for the bioenergetics of the cells, and for viability and infectivity. We found that one component of the complex (MCUb) does not act as a dominant negative effector of the channel as in vertebrate cells and that TbMCUC possesses two unique subunits (MCUc and MCUd) only present in trypanosomatids and required for Ca2+ transport. The study of the interactions between these four subunits (MCU, MCUb, MCUc and MCUd) by a variety of techniques that include co-immunoprecipitation, split-ubiquitin membrane-based yeast-two-hybrid assays and site directed mutagenesis, suggests that they interact through their transmembrane helices to form hetero-oligomers.
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Why is it important?
Uniporter complex in trypanosomes has different composition
Perspectives
Potential target for chemotherapy
Professor Roberto Docampo
University of Georgia
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: The Mitochondrial Ca2+Uniporter Complex (MCUC) ofTrypanosoma bruceiIs a Hetero-oligomer That Contains Novel Subunits Essential for Ca2+Uptake, mBio, September 2018, ASM Journals,
DOI: 10.1128/mbio.01700-18.
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