Article
Immunology
Pablo Smircich, Leticia Perez-Diaz, Fabricio Hernandez, Maria Ana Duhagon, Beatriz Garat
Summary: Trypanosoma cruzi is a parasite that causes Chagas disease, and its life cycle involves alternating between a blood-sucking insect and a mammalian host. The parasite undergoes different stages of development in the insect gut, leading to the formation of infective forms that are transmitted through feces. Starvation in the insect host affects the parasite population and leads to the emergence of transitional forms. Understanding the molecular changes during nutritional restrictions can provide insights into the parasite's adaptation in the insect vector.
FRONTIERS IN CELLULAR AND INFECTION MICROBIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Immunology
Claudia F. Dick, Nathalia Rocco-Machado, Andre L. A. Dos-Santos, Luiz F. Carvalho-Kelly, Carolina L. Alcantara, Narcisa L. Cunha-E-Silva, Jose R. Meyer-Fernandes, Adalberto Vieyra
Summary: TcIT, a putative 39-kDa Fe transporter in T. cruzi, plays a crucial role in iron metabolism and cellular differentiation. Under iron-depleted conditions, epimastigotes exhibit lower intracellular iron concentration and reduced oxygen consumption, while overexpressing TcIT leads to increased iron content, higher oxygen consumption, elevated ATP levels, enhanced H2O2 production, and stimulated transition to trypomastigotes. Understanding the mechanisms of iron transport at the cellular and molecular levels will provide insights into iron metabolism in T. cruzi and its impact on virulence and infection progression.
FRONTIERS IN CELLULAR AND INFECTION MICROBIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Huaijian Xu, Meng Ye, Aliang Xia, Hang Jiang, Panpan Huang, Huiquan Liu, Rui Hou, Qinhu Wang, Dongao Li, Jin-Rong Xu, Cong Jiang
Summary: Fng3 is a protein that interacts with histone modification complexes, involved in the regulation of histone acetylation, and crucial for fungal development and pathogenicity.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Anagh Ray, Preeti Khan, Ronita Nag Chaudhuri
Summary: The study highlights the importance of lysine acetylation in maintaining chromatin structure and function, specifically focusing on the role of H4K16 acetylation in regulating the expression of constitutive genes. Deacetylation of H4K16 is associated with hypoacetylation of H4K12 and H3K9, along with hyperacetylation of H3K56, creating a chromatin landscape conducive for transcription of constitutive genes.
Editorial Material
Microbiology
Aline Araujo Alves, Philippe Bastin
Summary: The protist Trypanosoma cruzi has a long and motile flagellum and a tiny flagellum in its intracellular stage. Recent research shows that the tiny flagellum can beat, and this commentary explores how it is constructed and its impact on the parasite's survival inside the host.
Article
Immunology
Leila dos Santos Moura, Vinicius Santana Nunes, Antoniel A. S. Gomes, Ana Caroline de Castro Nascimento Sousa, Marcos R. M. Fontes, Sergio Schenkman, Nilmar Silvio Moretti
Summary: The research highlights the involvement of lysine acetylation in the oxidative stress response of T. cruzi, especially through the mitochondrial lysine deacetylase TcSir2rp3 regulating the activity of mitochondrial superoxide dismutase A (TcSODA). The study also shows that acetylation of K97 in TcSODA plays a key role in modulating enzyme activity and maintaining redox homeostasis in trypanosomatids. Additionally, the interaction between TcSir2rp3 and TcSODA contributes to the understanding of mechanisms used by T. cruzi to progress during infection.
FRONTIERS IN CELLULAR AND INFECTION MICROBIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Ravi R. Sonani, Katarzyna Kurpiewska, Krzysztof Lewinski, Grzegorz Dubin
Summary: The glycosomal malate dehydrogenase from Trypanosoma cruzi displays a distinct sequence and structural feature, providing an anchor point for the development of specific inhibitors and potential trypanocidal drugs in the future.
BIOCHEMICAL AND BIOPHYSICAL RESEARCH COMMUNICATIONS
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Laura Marruecos, Joan Bertran, Daniel Alvarez-Villanueva, Maria Carmen Mulero, Yolanda Guillen, Luis G. Palma, Martin Floor, Anna Vert, Sara Arce-Gallego, Irene Pecharroman, Laura Batlle, Jordi Villa-Freixa, Gourisankar Ghosh, Anna Bigas, Lluis Espinosa
Summary: I kappa Bs act as cytoplasmic inhibitors of NF-kB transcription factors. Phosphorylated and SUMOylated I kappa B alpha binds to histones H2A and H4, influencing chromatin association and transcriptional regulation in skin and intestine stem cells and progenitor cells. Dynamic binding of I kappa B alpha to chromatin is necessary for intestinal cell differentiation, providing insight into the restricted nuclear distribution of p-I kappa B alpha in specific stem cell compartments.
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Nando D. Das, Jen-Chien Chang, Chung-Chau Hon, S. Thomas Kelly, Shinsuke Ito, Marina Lizio, Bogumil Kaczkowski, Hisami Watanabe, Keisuke Katsushima, Atsushi Natsume, Haruhiko Koseki, Yutaka Kondo, Aki Minoda, Takashi Umehara
Summary: This study found that H4K5acK8ac and H3K27ac signals have some overlap in binding to the super-enhancer transcription factor BRD4 at higher levels, but they also have distinct specificities, especially in glioblastoma stem-like cell lines. Deletion of H4K5acK8ac-preferred super-enhancers associated with MYCN and NFIC resulted in a reduction in stem-like properties.
Article
Microbiology
Francis M. S. Saraiva, Daniela Cosentino-Gomes, Job D. F. Inacio, Elmo E. Almeida-Amaral, Orlando Louzada-Neto, Ana Rossini, Natalia P. Nogueira, Jose R. Meyer-Fernandes, Marcia C. Paes
Summary: This study investigated the response of T. cruzi epimastigotes to hypoxia and found that under low oxygen conditions, the parasites produced more ROS and used increased glycolysis and fermentation pathways to sustain ATP production, allowing them to survive and proliferate in the insect vector.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Pablo Igor Ribeiro Franco, Jose Rodrigues do Carmo Neto, Marina Pacheco Miguel, Juliana Reis Machado, Mara Rubia Nunes Celes
Summary: This review summarizes the main molecular mechanisms of T. cruzi-related carcinogenesis and the mechanisms associated with tumor protection mediated by different parasite components.
Article
Cell Biology
Chao-Pei Liu, Wenxing Jin, Jie Hu, Mingzhu Wang, Jingjing Chen, Guohong Li, Rui-Ming Xu
Summary: In this study, Liu et al. investigated how sNASP binds H3-H4 in the presence and absence of ASF1, two major histone H3-H4 chaperones found in distinct and common complexes, during chromosomal duplication. They show that, in the presence of ASF1, sNASP principally recognizes a partially unfolded N alpha region of histone H3, and in the absence of ASF1, an additional sNASP binding site becomes available in the core domain of the H3-H4 complex, providing new mechanistic insights into coordinated histone binding and transfer by histone chaperones.
GENES & DEVELOPMENT
(2021)
Article
Parasitology
Francisco Alejandro Lagunas-Rangel, Maria Luisa Bazan-Tejeda, Rosa Maria Bermudez-Cruz
Summary: Giardia duodenalis is a parasite that causes numerous diarrheal diseases worldwide. Despite needing fewer components than other eukaryotes, Giardia still contains core histones and epigenetic marks, which suggest a control mechanism for gene expression.
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
P. T. V. Florentino, F. N. L. Vitorino, D. Mendes, J. P. C. da Cunha, C. F. M. Menck
Summary: By using quantitative proteomic analysis, this study revealed the impact of Trypanosoma cruzi infection on the chromatin of host cells. It was discovered that parasites interfere with DNA metabolism during both early and late infection stages. Proteins related to DNA damage repair, oxidative phosphorylation, and vesicle-mediated transport showed increased abundance in the host chromatin. Additionally, the translocation of Apoptosis-inducing Factor to the host cell nucleus after infection suggests that the parasites can induce a programmed cell death known as Parthanatos. These findings contribute to a better understanding of how parasites manipulate the chromatin of host cells to disseminate infection and provide potential targets for future treatments.
JOURNAL OF PROTEOMICS
(2023)
Letter
Biology
Jaime Lisack, Brooke Morriswood, Markus Engstler
Summary: This study discusses two possible interpretations of the trypanosome life cycle and argues for a model that allows for phenotypic plasticity in the slender stage and stochasticity in the trypanosome life cycle.
Editorial Material
Parasitology
Nilmar Silvio Moretti, Renato Arruda Mortara, Sergio Schenkman
TRENDS IN PARASITOLOGY
(2020)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Vinicius Santana Nunes, Nilmar Silvio Moretti, Marcelo Santos da Silva, Maria Carolina Elias, Christian J. Janzen, Sergio Schenkman
BIOCHIMICA ET BIOPHYSICA ACTA-MOLECULAR CELL RESEARCH
(2020)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Ariely Barbosa Leite, Antoniel Augusto Severo Gomes, Ana Caroline de Castro Nascimento Sousa, Marcos Roberto de Mattos Fontes, Sergio Schenkman, Nilmar Silvio Moretti
BIOCHEMICAL JOURNAL
(2020)
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Loyze P. de Lima, Saloe Bispo Poubel, Zuo-Fei Yuan, Juliana Nunes Roson, Francisca Nathalia de Luna Vitorino, Fabiola Barbieri Holetz, Benjamin A. Garcia, Julia Pinheiro Chagas da Cunha
JOURNAL OF PROTEOMICS
(2020)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Christiane Bezerra de Araujo, Julia Pinheiro Chagas da Cunha, Davi Toshio Inada, Jeziel Damasceno, Alex Ranieri Jeronimo Lima, Priscila Hiraiwa, Catarina Marques, Evonnildo Goncalves, Milton Yutaka Nishiyama-Junior, Richard McCulloch, Maria Carolina Elias
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Rosicler L. Barbosa, Julia Pinheiro Chagas da Cunha, Arthur T. Menezes, Raissa de F. P. Melo, Maria Carolina Elias, Ariel M. Silber, Patricia P. Coltri
JOURNAL OF PROTEOMICS
(2020)
Article
Parasitology
Caio H. Franco, David C. Warhurst, Tapan Bhattacharyya, Ho Y. A. Au, Hai Le, Miriam A. Giardini, Bruno S. Pascoalino, Ana Claudia Torrecilhas, Lavinia M. D. Romera, Rafael Pedro Madeira, Sergio Schenkman, Lucio H. Freitas-Junior, Eric Chatelain, Michael A. Miles, Carolina B. Moraes
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR PARASITOLOGY-DRUGS AND DRUG RESISTANCE
(2020)
Article
Infectious Diseases
Marco Tulio Alves da Silva, Ivan Rosa e Silva, Livia Maria Faim, Natalia Karla Bellini, Murilo Leao Pereira, Ana Laura Lima, Teresa Cristina Leandro de Jesus, Fernanda Cristina Costa, Tatiana Faria Watanabe, Humberto D'Muniz Pereira, Sandro Roberto Valentini, Cleslei Fernando Zanelli, Julio Cesar Borges, Marcio Vinicius Bertacini Dias, Julia Pinheiro Chagas Cunha, Bidyottam Mittra, Norma W. Andrews, Otavio Henrique Thiemann
PLOS NEGLECTED TROPICAL DISEASES
(2020)
Article
Oncology
Hatylas Azevedo, Guilherme Cavalcante Pessoa, Francisca Nathalia de Luna Vitorino, Jeremie Nsengimana, Julia Newton-Bishop, Eduardo Moraes Reis, Julia Pinheiro Chagas da Cunha, Miriam Galvonas Jasiulionis
CLINICAL EPIGENETICS
(2020)
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Simone Guedes Calderano, Milton Yutaka Nishiyama Junior, Marjorie Marini, Nathan de Oliveira Nunes, Marcelo da Silva Reis, Jose Salvatore Leister Patane, Jose Franco da Silveira, Julia Pinheiro Chagas da Cunha, Maria Carolina Elias
Article
Cell Biology
Gregory Pedroso dos Santos, Fernanda Midori Abukawa, Normanda Souza-Melo, Laura Maria Alcantara, Paula Bittencourt-Cunha, Carolina Borsoi Moraes, Bijay Kumar Jha, Bradford S. McGwire, Nilmar Silvio Moretti, Sergio Schenkman
Summary: Infection by Trypanosoma cruzi essentially relies on the release of a 19 kDa cyclophilin protein, TcCyp19, which triggers an increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels in host cells, leading to enhanced parasite proliferation in mammalian hosts.
CELLULAR MICROBIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Microbiology
Alex R. J. Lima, Christiane B. de Araujo, Saloe Bispo, Jose Patane, Ariel M. Silber, M. Carolina Elias, Julia P. C. da Cunha
Summary: This study revealed differences in nucleosome organization at strategic genomic regions among replicative and nonreplicative T. cruzi forms. The nonreplicative forms have less dynamic nucleosomes, while dynamic nucleosomes are enriched at regulatory transcription initiation regions and multigenic family members associated with infective stage and virulence factors. Genes related to DNA replication, cytokinesis, transcription and translation regulation are mainly enriched on dynamic nucleosomes.
Article
Immunology
Camilla Ioshida Vasconcelos, A. Cronemberger-Andrade, Normanda Souza-Melo, Juliana Terzi Maricato, Patricia Xander, Wagner Luiz Batista, Rodrigo Pedro Soares, Sergio Schenkman, Ana Claudia Torrecilhas
Summary: This study evaluated the release and internalization of EVs from Trypanosoma cruzi under different stress conditions. It was found that EV release is dependent on membrane structure and parasite integrity, and stress conditions do not affect the functional properties of EVs during interaction with host cells. EVs released under stress conditions maintained their proinflammatory activity and stimulated the expression of certain genes in preactivated macrophages. Variations in EV release under stress conditions may be a physiological response against environmental changes.
JOURNAL OF IMMUNOLOGY RESEARCH
(2021)
Review
Parasitology
Ana Paula Menezes, Ana Milena Murillo, Camila Gachet de Castro, Natalia Karla Bellini, Luiz Ricardo Orsini Tosi, Otavio Henrique Thiemann, Maria Carolina Elias, Ariel Mariano Silber, Julia Pinheiro Chagas da Cunha
Summary: Epigenetic marks are chemical modifications on chromatin-associated proteins and nucleic acids that affect gene expression. The connection between metabolism and epigenetics has been increasingly discovered, revealing how the environment influences gene regulation and phenotype diversity. This review speculates and proposes associations between epigenetics and metabolism in trypanosomes, which are protozoan parasites causing human and livestock diseases.
TRENDS IN PARASITOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Peder J. Lund, Mariana Lopes, Simone Sidoli, Mariel Coradin, Francisca Nathalia de Luna Vitorino, Julia Pinheiro Chagas da Cunha, Benjamin A. Garcia
Summary: The study revealed that oncogenes can induce cell senescence pathways, inhibiting tumor cell growth. FGF-2 treatment of Y1 cells led to decreased cell cycle-related gene expression and increased p21, cytokines, and MAPK-related gene expression. Multi-omics analysis suggested alterations in histone modifications, protein phosphorylation, and metabolism in response to FGF-2, providing insights into the synergy between growth factors and oncogenes in driving senescence.