Trypanosoma brucei brucei variant surface glycoprotein contains non-N-acetylated glucosamine.

Application of electrospray mass spectrometry to the structural determination of glycosylphosphatidylinositol membrane anchors

The addition of glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) anchors to proteins is an important posttranslational modification in eukaryotic cells. The complete structural elucidation of GPI anchors is a complex process that requires relatively large amounts of starting material. In this paper, we assess the degree of structural information that can be obtained by applying electrospray mass spectrometry...

Candidate glycophospholipid precursor for the glycosylphosphatidylinositol membrane anchor of Trypanosoma brucei variant surface glycoproteins.

Trypanosoma brucei variant surface glycoproteins are apparently synthesized with a hydrophobic carboxyl-terminal peptide that is cleaved and replaced by a complex glycosylphosphatidylinositol membrane anchor within 1 min of the completion of polypeptide synthesis. The rapidity of this carboxyl-terminal modification suggests the existence of a prefabricated core glycolipid that would be transfer...

The N-glycan glucosidase system in Trypanosoma brucei.

Reactions involving removal and addition of glucose to N-glycans in the ER (endoplasmic reticulum) are performed in higher eukaryotes by glucosidases I and II and the UDP-glucose:glycoprotein glucosyltransferase respectively. Monoglucosylated N-glycan structures have been implicated in glycoprotein folding or ER quality control. Components of the system appear across a range of organisms; howev...

Transcription is initiated on silent variant surface glycoprotein expression sites despite monoallelic expression in Trypanosoma brucei.

African trypanosomes survive the immune defense of their hosts by regularly changing their antigenic coat made of variant surface glycoprotein (VSG). The Trypanosoma brucei genome contains more than 1,000 VSG genes. To be expressed, a given VSG gene must be located in one of 15 telomeric regions termed "VSG expression sites" (ESs), each of which contains a polycistronic transcription unit that ...

In Vitro Analysis of a-Amanitin-Resistant Transcription from the rRNA, Procyclic Acidic Repetitive Protein, and Variant Surface Glycoprotein Gene Promoters in Trypanosoma brucei