QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s):
Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents

First published online 11 December 2007
doi: 10.1242/jcs.014050

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: jcs.014050v1 121/1/99    most recent Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Related articles in JCS Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Gannavaram, S. Articles by Debrabant, A. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Gannavaram, S. Articles by Debrabant, A. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Conservation of the pro-apoptotic nuclease activity of endonuclease G in unicellular trypanosomatid parasites

Laboratory of Bacterial, Parasitic and Unconventional Agents, Division of Emerging and Transfusion Transmitted Diseases, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, US Food and Drug Administration, Bethesda MD 20892, USA

^* Author for correspondence (e-mail: alain.debrabant{at}fda.hhs.gov)

Accepted 11 October 2007

Endonuclease G is a mitochondrial protein implicated in DNA fragmentation during apoptosis in cell types ranging from fungi to mammals. Features of programmed cell death have been reported in a number of single-celled organisms, including the human trypanosomatid parasites Leishmania and Trypanosoma. However, the protozoan cell death pathways and the effector molecules involved in such processes remain to be identified. In this report, we describe the pro-apoptotic function of endonuclease G in trypanosomatid parasites. Similar to metazoans, trypanosome endoG showed intrinsic nuclease activity, is localized in mitochondria and is released from this organelle when cell death is triggered. Overexpression of endoG strongly promoted apoptotic cell death under oxidant or differentiation-related stress in Leishmania and, conversely, loss of endoG expression conferred robust resistance to oxidant-induced cell death in T. brucei. These data demonstrate the conservation of the pro-apoptotic endonuclease activity of endoG in these evolutionarily ancient eukaryotic organisms. Furthermore, nuclear DNA degradation by endoG upon release from mitochondria might represent a caspase-independent cell death mechanism in trypanosomatid parasites as genes encoding caspase-like proteins have not been identified in their genomes.

Key words: Trypanosomatid parasites, Programmed cell death, DNA fragmentation, Apoptotic Nucleases, Endonuclease G

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

Related articles in JCS:

Suicidal parasites nick DNA

JCS 2008 121: 101. [Full Text]  

This article has been cited by other articles:

				A. Roy, A. Ganguly, S. BoseDasgupta, B. B. Das, C. Pal, P. Jaisankar, and H. K. Majumder Mitochondria-Dependent Reactive Oxygen Species-Mediated Programmed Cell Death Induced by 3,3'-Diindolylmethane through Inhibition of F0F1-ATP Synthase in Unicellular Protozoan Parasite Leishmania donovani Mol. Pharmacol., November 1, 2008; 74(5): 1292 - 1307. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]