“Turn-coat” trypanosomes undressed

Maintaining the protective variant surface glycoprotein coat of African trypanosomes.

The African trypanosome Trypanosoma brucei has a precarious existence as an extracellular parasite of the mammalian bloodstream, where it is faced with continuous immune attack. Key to survival is a dense VSG (variant surface glycoprotein) coat, which is repeatedly switched during the course of a chronic infection. New data demonstrate a link between VSG synthesis and cell cycle progression, in...

Regulation of surface coat exchange by differentiating African trypanosomes.

African trypanosomes (Trypanosoma brucei) have a digenetic lifecycle that alternates between the mammalian bloodstream and the tsetse fly vector. In the bloodstream, replicating long slender parasites transform into non-dividing short stumpy forms. Upon transmission into the fly midgut, short stumpy cells differentiate into actively dividing procyclics. A hallmark of this process is the replace...

On the surface coat and flagellar adhesion in trypanosomes.

Pathogenic trypanosomes in their bloodstream phase have a smooth and compact coat 12-15 nm thick enveloping the entire surface membrane of the body and flagellum. In the sleeping-sickness trypanosome Trypanosoma rhodesiense this coat is absent from the stages of development in the midgut of the tsetse-fly vector and from their counterparts obtained by cultivation of the trypanosome in vitro. In...

How Does the VSG Coat of Bloodstream Form African Trypanosomes Interact with External Proteins?

Variations on the statement "the variant surface glycoprotein (VSG) coat that covers the external face of the mammalian bloodstream form of Trypanosoma brucei acts a physical barrier" appear regularly in research articles and reviews. The concept of the impenetrable VSG coat is an attractive one, as it provides a clear model for understanding how a trypanosome population persists; each successi...

Early Detection by the Immune System Variant Surface Glycoprotein Coat Escape Trypanosomes Expressing a Mosaic