Replication Protein A‐1 Has a Preference for the Telomeric G‐rich Sequence in Trypanosoma cruzi |
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| Authors: | Raphael Souza Pavani Marcela O. Vitarelli Carlos A. H. Fernandes Fabio F. Mattioli Mariana Morone Milene C. Menezes Marcos R. M. Fontes Maria Isabel N. Cano Maria Carolina Elias |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Laboratório Especial de Ciclo Celular, Instituto Butantan, S?o Paulo, SP, Brazil;2. Center of Toxins, Immune Response and Cell Signaling (CeTICS), Instituto Butantan, S?o Paulo, SP, Brazil;3. Biophysics and Physics Department, Biosciences Institute, S?o Paulo State University (UNESP), Botucatu, SP, Brazil;4. Laboratório Especial de Toxinologia Aplicada, Instituto Butantan, S?o Paulo, SP, Brazil;5. Genetics Department, Biosciences Institute, S?o Paulo State University (UNESP), Botucatu, SP, Brazil |
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| Abstract: | Replication protein A (RPA), the major eukaryotic single‐stranded binding protein, is a heterotrimeric complex formed by RPA‐1, RPA‐2, and RPA‐3. RPA is a fundamental player in replication, repair, recombination, and checkpoint signaling. In addition, increasing evidences have been adding functions to RPA in telomere maintenance, such as interaction with telomerase to facilitate its activity and also involvement in telomere capping in some conditions. Trypanosoma cruzi, the etiological agent of Chagas disease is a protozoa parasite that appears early in the evolution of eukaryotes. Recently, we have showed that T. cruziRPA presents canonical functions being involved with DNA replication and DNA damage response. Here, we found by FISH/IF assays that T. cruziRPA localizes at telomeres even outside replication (S) phase. In vitro analysis showed that one telomeric repeat is sufficient to bind RPA‐1. Telomeric DNA induces different secondary structural modifications on RPA‐1 in comparison with other types of DNA. In addition, RPA‐1 presents a higher affinity for telomeric sequence compared to randomic sequence, suggesting that RPA may play specific roles in T. cruzi telomeric region. |
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| Keywords: | G‐rich strand telomeres |
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