Kinetoplast Division Factors in a Trypanosome

Donna Huber on January 10, 2019

Trypanosoma brucei

 

Highlights

 

  • Kinetoplasts (mitochondrial genome nucleoids) are important in bloodstream trypanosomes for the establishment of mitochondrial membrane potential.

 

  • Many proteins involved in segregation of kinetoplasts have been identified.

 

  • A region between a kinetoplast and basal bodies is described as a tripartite attachment complex (TAC).

 

  • A set of TAC-associated proteins (TACAPs) has been proposed as the machinery for kinetoplast segregation.

 

  • Subcomplexes of TACAPs that form in vivo have been described.

 

  • Several proteins that do not associate with TAC are involved in the maintenance of the kinetoplast.

 

  • New kinetoplast-associated proteins have been identified.

 

  • We are approaching an exciting period in the field when a molecular understanding of how all aspects of kinetoplast biogenesis are executed seems achievable.

 

Kojo Mensa-Wilmot, Benjamin Hoffman, Justin Wiedman, Catherine Sullenberger, Amrita Sharma. 2019. Trends in Parasitology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pt.2018.11.002

 

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