Abstract
Phospholipases are esterases involved in lipid catabolism. In pathogenic
micro-organisms (bacteria, fungi, parasites) they often play a critical
role in virulence and pathogenicity. A few phospholipases (PL) have
been characterised so far at the gene and protein level in unicellular
parasites including African trypanosomes (AT). They could play a role in
different processes such as host–pathogen interaction, antigenic
variation, intermediary metabolism. By mining the genome database of AT
we found putative new phospholipase candidate genes and here we provided
biochemical evidence that one of these has lipolytic activity. This
protein has a unique non-canonical glycosome targeting signal
responsible for its dual localisation in the cytosol and the
peroxisomes-related organelles named glycosomes. We also show that this
new phospholipase is excreted by these pathogens and that antibodies
directed against this protein are generated during an experimental
infection with T. brucei gambiense, a subspecies responsible for infection in humans. This feature makes this protein a possible tool for diagnosis.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 4766 |
Journal | Scientific Reports |
Volume | 12 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 19 Mar 2022 |