The RRM-mediated RNA binding activity in T. brucei RAP1 is essential for VSG monoallelic expression

Amit Kumar Gaurav; Marjia Afrin; Xian Yang; Arpita Saha; S. K. Abdus Sayeed; Xuehua Pan; Zeyang Ji; Kam-Bo Wong; Mingjie Zhang; Yanxiang Zhao; Bibo Li

doi:10.1038/s41467-023-37307-0

Nature Communications (Mar 2023)

The RRM-mediated RNA binding activity in T. brucei RAP1 is essential for VSG monoallelic expression

Amit Kumar Gaurav,
Marjia Afrin,
Xian Yang,
Arpita Saha,
S. K. Abdus Sayeed,
Xuehua Pan,
Zeyang Ji,
Kam-Bo Wong,
Mingjie Zhang,
Yanxiang Zhao,
Bibo Li

Affiliations

Amit Kumar Gaurav: Center for Gene Regulation in Health and Disease, Department of Biological, Geological, and Environmental Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences, Cleveland State University
Marjia Afrin: Center for Gene Regulation in Health and Disease, Department of Biological, Geological, and Environmental Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences, Cleveland State University
Xian Yang: Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology, State Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology and Drug Discovery, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom
Arpita Saha: Center for Gene Regulation in Health and Disease, Department of Biological, Geological, and Environmental Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences, Cleveland State University
S. K. Abdus Sayeed: Center for Gene Regulation in Health and Disease, Department of Biological, Geological, and Environmental Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences, Cleveland State University
Xuehua Pan: Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology, State Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology and Drug Discovery, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom
Zeyang Ji: Division of Life Science, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay
Kam-Bo Wong: Centre for Protein Science and Crystallography, School of Life Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)
Mingjie Zhang: Division of Life Science, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay
Yanxiang Zhao: Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology, State Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology and Drug Discovery, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom
Bibo Li: Center for Gene Regulation in Health and Disease, Department of Biological, Geological, and Environmental Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences, Cleveland State University

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-37307-0
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 14, no. 1
pp. 1 – 14

Abstract

Read online

Monoallelic VSG expression is essential for Trypanosoma brucei survival. Competition between TbRAP1’s RNA and dsDNA binding activities ensures that TbRAP1 sustains a high level expression of the active VSG while silencing other VSGs globally.

Published in Nature Communications

ISSN: 2041-1723 (Online)
Publisher: Nature Portfolio
Country of publisher: United Kingdom
LCC subjects: Science
Website: https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

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