A yeast-endonuclease-generated DNA break induces antigenic switching in Trypanosoma brucei

Catharine E. Boothroyd, Oliver Dreesen, Tatyana Leonova, K. Ina Ly, Luisa M. Figueiredo, George A. M. Cross and F. Nina Papavasiliou ()
Additional contact information
Catharine E. Boothroyd: Laboratory of Lymphocyte Biology, and,
Oliver Dreesen: Laboratory of Molecular Parasitology, The Rockefeller University, New York, New York 10065, USA
Tatyana Leonova: Laboratory of Lymphocyte Biology, and,
K. Ina Ly: Laboratory of Lymphocyte Biology, and,
Luisa M. Figueiredo: Laboratory of Molecular Parasitology, The Rockefeller University, New York, New York 10065, USA
George A. M. Cross: Laboratory of Molecular Parasitology, The Rockefeller University, New York, New York 10065, USA
F. Nina Papavasiliou: Laboratory of Lymphocyte Biology, and,

Nature, 2009, vol. 459, issue 7244, 278-281

Abstract: Trypanosome glycoprotein switching Sleeping sickness is caused by the trypanosome parasite. This parasite outwits the human immune system by periodically changing its coat protein in a process known as variant surface glycoprotein (VSG) switching. The favoured model to explain switching invokes a normal host process, called gene conversion, that is used to repair DNA. In this work, Nina Papavasiliou and colleagues establish the first in vitro system that recapitulates VSG switching. The data indicate that a spontaneous double-stranded DNA break upstream of the gene encoding the coat protein initiates the process.

Date: 2009
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DOI: 10.1038/nature07982

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