Phosphatidylserine synthase 2 and phosphatidylserine decarboxylase are essential for aminophospholipid synthesis in Trypanosoma brucei
Date
05/2017Author
Grant ID
602773
067441/Z/02/B
093228/Z/10/Z
Keywords
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) and phosphatidylserine (PS) are ubiquitously expressed and metabolically interconnected glycerophospholipids in eukaryotes and prokaryotes. In Trypanosoma brucei, PE synthesis has been shown to occur mainly via the Kennedy pathway, one of the three routes leading to PE synthesis in eukaryotes, while PS synthesis has not been studied experimentally. We now reveal the importance of T. brucei PS synthase 2 (TbPSS2) and T. brucei PS decarboxylase (TbPSD), two key enzymes involved in aminophospholipid synthesis, for trypanosome viability. By using tetracycline-inducible down-regulation of gene expression and in vivo and in vitro metabolic labeling, we found that TbPSS2 i) is necessary for normal growth of procyclic trypanosomes, ii) localizes to the endoplasmic reticulum and iii) represents the unique route for PS formation in T. brucei. In addition, we identified TbPSD as type I PS decarboxylase in the mitochondrion and found that it is processed proteolytically at a WGSS cleavage site into a heterodimer. Down-regulation of TbPSD expression affected mitochondrial integrity in both procyclic and bloodstream form trypanosomes, decreased ATP production via oxidative phosphorylation in procyclic form and affected parasite growth.
Citation
Farine , L , Jelk , J , Choi , J-Y , Voelker , D R , Nunes , J , Smith , T K & Bütikofer , P 2017 , ' Phosphatidylserine synthase 2 and phosphatidylserine decarboxylase are essential for aminophospholipid synthesis in Trypanosoma brucei ' , Molecular Microbiology , vol. 104 , no. 3 , pp. 412-427 . https://doi.org/10.1111/mmi.13637
Publication
Molecular Microbiology
Status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
1365-2958Type
Journal article
Description
The work was supported by Swiss National Science Foundation grant 149353 to PB, Wellcome Trust grants 067441 and 093228 and European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme under grant agreement No. 602773 (Project KINDRED) to TKS, and National Institutes of Health grants NIAID AI 097218 and NIGMS GM 104485 to DRV.Collections
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