LdFlabarin, a new BAR domain membrane protein of Leishmania flagellum

PLoS One. 2013 Sep 27;8(9):e76380. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0076380. eCollection 2013.

Abstract

During the Leishmania life cycle, the flagellum undergoes successive assembly and disassembly of hundreds of proteins. Understanding these processes necessitates the study of individual components. Here, we investigated LdFlabarin, an uncharacterized L. donovani flagellar protein. The gene is conserved within the Leishmania genus and orthologous genes only exist in the Trypanosoma genus. LdFlabarin associates with the flagellar plasma membrane, extending from the base to the tip of the flagellum as a helicoidal structure. Site-directed mutagenesis, deletions and chimera constructs showed that LdFlabarin flagellar addressing necessitates three determinants: an N-terminal potential acylation site and a central BAR domain for membrane targeting and the C-terminal domain for flagellar specificity. In vitro, the protein spontaneously associates with liposomes, triggering tubule formation, which suggests a structural/morphogenetic function. LdFlabarin is the first characterized Leishmania BAR domain protein, and the first flagellum-specific BAR domain protein.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Base Sequence
  • Computational Biology
  • Evolution, Molecular*
  • Flagella / genetics*
  • Flagella / metabolism
  • Flagella / ultrastructure
  • Leishmania / genetics*
  • Leishmania / metabolism
  • Liposomes / metabolism
  • Membrane Proteins / genetics*
  • Membrane Proteins / metabolism
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Mutagenesis, Site-Directed
  • Phylogeny*
  • Protein Binding
  • Protein Structure, Tertiary
  • Sequence Analysis, DNA

Substances

  • Liposomes
  • Membrane Proteins

Associated data

  • GENBANK/U52521

Grants and funding

The project was funded by the CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), the Université Bordeaux Ségalen, the IRD (Institut de Recherche pour le Développement), the Université Montpellier I and the CHU (Centre Hospitalier Universitaire) La Colombière (Montpellier). A. Sahin and C. Sauvanet were MENRT (Ministère de l'Education Nationale, de la Recherche et de la Technologie) PhD fellows. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.