Fantastic to welcome @fariatrypslab.bsky.social for our @mcb-sheffield.bsky.social seminar today. So much cool work on #condensates and #generegulation, and can't get over how awesome #trypanosomes are!

Minor technical note: as the authors themselves acknowledge, the 20H5 pan-centrin antibody used here is a finicky reagent…in my experience of using this in #trypanosomes its labelling pattern is STRONGLY dependent on fixation conditions. (A caveat, not a criticism)

🔬 #Trypanosomes process their large rRNA in a highly unusual way-by cutting it into six pieces. A new study from @schneian.bsky.social lab identified two essential proteins, TbLrRP1 and TbLrRP2, that drive this process. Read more: doi.org/10.1093/nar/...
#NARBreakthrough #RibosomeBiogenesis

As a kid growing up in rural Africa, I was aware of tsetse flies when we splatted their bodies full of our blood, but if I'd known that the #trypanosomes that they carry looked like this creepy pic from @mariezelena.bsky.social @mbonhivers.bsky.social &co, I would've been much more scared...

Intraflagellar transport selectivity occurs within the proximal portion of the trypanosome flagellum In Trypanosoma brucei, IFT trains selectively associate with specific axonemal microtubules. Using advanced microscopy, Araujo Alves et al. reveal how this

How do trypanosome IFT trains choose special tracks? Yameng Huang and Cynthia He (National University of Singapore) discuss recent advances from @bastinlab.bsky.social (rupress.org/jcb/article/...), in Spotlight: rupress.org/jcb/article/...

#Biochemistry #Organelles #Cilia #Flagella #Trypanosomes

🦟 New in NARMME: for the first time, microRNA in tsetse fly saliva carrying Trypanosoma brucei were profiled. Infected flies carry less diverse microRNAs, hinting roles in how the disease spreads.

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/narm...

#SleepingSickness #TsetseFly #MicroRNA #Trypanosomes #NARMME #OpenAccess

New research in #RESMedVetEnt

Entomological surveillance for #phlebotomines in the metropolitan region of Aracaju, Brazil
doi.org/10.1111/mve.70005

#Phlebotominae #Trypanosomes #InsectVectors #InsectBorneDiseases #Leishmaniasis
@wiley.com

Beautiful cartoons on the grids of the Institute illustrating our future research centre on vector-borne diseases @pasteur.fr with lovely #trypanosomes and a tsetse fly 😉
Many thanks to Céleste Gangolphe for the exceptional work!

Left: Schematic representation of the glycerol metabolism of PCF trypanosomes. This figure shows glycerol metabolism leading to the excreted end products, succinate and acetate in the glycosomes and the mitochondrion, respectively, while gluconeogenesis (production for G6P from G3P and DHAP) is represented in red. The oxidative and non-oxidative branches of the pentose-phosphate pathway (PPP) are highlighted in blue and purple, respectively. The three enzymes addressed in this study (PFK, FBPase, and SBPase), possibly responsible for production of F6P from F1,6BP, are boxed. Right: Images show the glycosomal (top) and cytosolic (bottom) localization of MaLionR-Myc-GPDH and MaLionG by immunofluorescence assays on the OEMaLionR-Myc-GPDH.i and OEMaLionG cell lines, respectively, by using an anti-aldolase immune serum as a glycosomal marker.

#Phosphofructokinase (PFK) is considered an irreversible glycolytic #enzyme. This study shows that #Trypanosomes are the only known organism to use PFK in the gluconeogenic direction under normal conditions, likely due to its compartmentalization within glycosomes @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/43r84Qc

Left: Schematic representation of the glycerol metabolism of PCF trypanosomes. This figure shows glycerol metabolism leading to the excreted end products, succinate and acetate in the glycosomes and the mitochondrion, respectively, while gluconeogenesis (production for G6P from G3P and DHAP) is represented in red. The oxidative and non-oxidative branches of the pentose-phosphate pathway (PPP) are highlighted in blue and purple, respectively. The three enzymes addressed in this study (PFK, FBPase, and SBPase), possibly responsible for production of F6P from F1,6BP, are boxed. Right: Images show the glycosomal (top) and cytosolic (bottom) localization of MaLionR-Myc-GPDH and MaLionG by immunofluorescence assays on the OEMaLionR-Myc-GPDH.i and OEMaLionG cell lines, respectively, by using an anti-aldolase immune serum as a glycosomal marker.

#Phosphofructokinase (PFK) is considered an irreversible glycolytic #enzyme. This study shows that #Trypanosomes are the only known organism to use PFK in the gluconeogenic direction under normal conditions, likely due to its compartmentalization within glycosomes @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/43r84Qc

Left: Schematic representation of the glycerol metabolism of PCF trypanosomes. This figure shows glycerol metabolism leading to the excreted end products, succinate and acetate in the glycosomes and the mitochondrion, respectively, while gluconeogenesis (production for G6P from G3P and DHAP) is represented in red. The oxidative and non-oxidative branches of the pentose-phosphate pathway (PPP) are highlighted in blue and purple, respectively. The three enzymes addressed in this study (PFK, FBPase, and SBPase), possibly responsible for production of F6P from F1,6BP, are boxed. Right: Images show the glycosomal (top) and cytosolic (bottom) localization of MaLionR-Myc-GPDH and MaLionG by immunofluorescence assays on the OEMaLionR-Myc-GPDH.i and OEMaLionG cell lines, respectively, by using an anti-aldolase immune serum as a glycosomal marker.

#Phosphofructokinase (PFK) is considered an irreversible glycolytic #enzyme. This study shows that #Trypanosomes are the only known organism to use PFK in the gluconeogenic direction under normal conditions, likely due to its compartmentalization within glycosomes @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/43r84Qc

Next rockstar talk from Karthika Balasubramaniam (Cynthia He, NUS, SG) on curious roles of PIH homologs in regulation of axonemal #dynein assembly in #Trypanosomes- #DynAPs, chaperoning, (co-)translation, folding in right time & space?! See: www.molbiolcell.org/doi/10.1091/... #ukcilia2025 2/7

Decoding Antigen Activation in Trypanosomes

Antigenic Variation: How Parasites Outsmart the Immune System 🦠

A new study by #HelmholtzMunich & LMU reveals how Trypanosoma brucei controls antigen switching to evade the immune system.

👉 t1p.de/n37tm

@lmumuenchen.bsky.social
#AntigenicVariation #Trypanosomes #Genomics #InfectiousDiseases

Le coupable de la Maladie du Sommeil Plongée inédite au cœur du trypanosome, le parasite responsable de la maladie du sommeil !Transmise par la piqûre de la mouche tsé-tsé, cette maladie touche plus de 30 pays d’Afrique subsaharienne. Ap...

A video clip to see #trypanosomes in #3D #FIB-SEM
Many thanks to Valérie Zeitoun and Jeanne Fenouil for their patience during the recording and to Adeline Mallet and Manu Majrouh at the UBI of @pasteur.fr
www.pasteur.fr/fr/journal-r...

microscope image of trypanosomes, stained with a fluorescent dye that stains the mitochondria a green colour

The Dewar lab use #trypanosomes to investigate molecular mechanisms involved in keeping vital mitochondria working. The extraordinary single tryp mito helps illuminate novel features of mitochondrial quality control pathways while informing drug discovery for #sleepingsickness #WorldNTDDay #BeatNTDs

close up of a single trypanosome cell under the microscope, repeated in alternating colours

African trypanosomes cause disease in humans and animals characterised by waves of high parasite burden accompanied by host fever. Research in the Urbaniak lab funded by the #BBSRC is revealing how African #trypanosomes survive host fever, which may lead to new treatments. #WorldNTDDay #BeatNTDs

In our January issue: Do tissue-dwelling #trypanosomes sustain #transmission populations? authored by Stephen Larcombe @janemunday.bsky.social & @rmc9z.bsky.social highlighting Monica Mugnier & colleagues’ @nature.com article. #Antigenic #Variation #VSG #Differentiation
www.cell.com/trends/paras...

Are you interested in #trypanosomes #biomolecularcondensates and/or #geneexpression? We are looking for a highly motivated postdoc to work with with us in the beautiful city of York!

Please share!

jobs.york.ac.uk/vacancy/post...

How do #trypanosomes restrict #IFT to only 4 doublet microtubules? Two hypotheses were proposed (restriction @ the flagellum base or @ the injection) but in this preprint, Aline Alves reveals it is a third way! It all happens in the proximal portion of the flagellum!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Jobs - The University of York

🚨 Postdoc job opportunity - York, UK 🚨

- PDRA role available in the lab of Dr Mathieu Cayla at the University of York, UK
- Investigating adaptation of African #trypanosomes to progress through their life cycle in their host
- All details at: jobs.york.ac.uk/vacancy/post...
- Apply by 3rd Jan '25

Please enjoy and share widely 😄 Our new paper, led by @goldrieve.bsky.social , details the mechanisms of lifecycle simplification in #trypanosomes.

Chloe Barnes’s presents a summary of data on gut localisation of trypanomsome infection

Very proud of PhD student Chloe Barnes presenting part of her PhD project at an International Kinetoplast meeting in Woods Hole, Massachusetts #Trypanosomes #Immunology

#HiSciSky Happy to migrate over here. I'm a postdoc in Edinburgh, interested in #trypanosomes, #coinfection, and #drugresistance.

I post mostly about science, but occasionally comment on politics that impact researchers (esp. from the Global South).

T. brucei image: Sue Vaughan/ Welcome Collection

Next @ParaFrap Webinar by Frédéric @BringaudF : "Adaptation of #trypanosomes to available carbon sources". Thursday, March 10, 3pm CET. If you are not yet on the webinar emailing list, join us, it's free !

bit.ly/ParaFrapWeb

FULLY FUNDED PHD - Understanding the DNA replication programmes of the African trypanosome and Leishmania at University of Glasgow on FindAPhD.com PhD Project - FULLY FUNDED PHD - Understanding the DNA replication programmes of the African trypanosome and Leishmania at University of Glasgow, listed on FindAPhD.com

Fully Funded #PhD available to study DNA replication in #trypanosomes and #Leishmania with @McCulloch_Group & @MarquesCata - Glasgow, UK @WCIPGLASGOW @iiiglasgow @UofGMVLS. Application Deadline: April 30th 2022 (flexible start date

findaphd.com/phds/project/f…

Postdoctoral opportunities in Ken Stuart lab
@seattlechildren Research Institute, Seattle, USA : "Human immune responses to #infection by and #vaccination against #malaria" and "Mechanisms of RNA editing in #Trypanosomes". #postdoc #Parasite #Sciences

seattlechildrens.org/directory/kenn…

The trypanosome UDP-glucose pyrophosphorylase is imported by piggybacking into glycosomes where unconventional sugar nucleotide synthesis takes place Glycosomes are peroxisome-related organelles of trypanosomatid parasites containing metabolic pathways usually present in the cytosol of other eukaryotes, such as glycolysis and biosynthesis of sugar nucleotides. UDP-glucose pyrophosphorylase (UGP), the enzyme responsible for the synthesis of the sugar nucleotide UDP-glucose, is localised in the cytosol and glycosomes of the bloodstream and procyclic trypanosomes, despite the absence of any known peroxisomal targeting signal (PTS1 and PTS2). The questions we addressed here are ( i ) is the unusual glycosomal biosynthetic pathway of sugar nucleotide functional and ( ii ) how the PTS-free UGP is imported into glycosomes? We showed that UGP is imported into glycosomes by piggybacking on the glycosomal PTS1-containing phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) and identified the domains involved in the UGP/PEPCK interaction. Proximity ligation assays revealed that this interaction occurs in 3-10% of glycosomes, suggesting that these correspond to organelles competent for protein import. We also showed that UGP is essential for growth of trypanosomes and that both the glycosomal and cytosolic metabolic pathways involving UGP are functional, since the lethality of the knock-down UGP mutant cell line ( RNAi UGP) was rescued by expressing a recoded UGP in the organelle ( RNAi UGP/ EXP rUGP-GPDH). Our conclusion was supported by targeted metabolomic analyses (IC-HRMS) showing that UDP-glucose is no longer detectable in the RNAi UGP mutant, while it is still produced in cells expressing UGP exclusively in the cytosol (PEPCK null mutant) or glycosomes ( RNAi UGP/ EXP rUGP-GPDH). Trypanosomatids are the only known organisms to have selected functional peroxisomal (glycosomal) sugar nucleotide biosynthetic pathways in addition to the canonical cytosolic ones. Importance Unusual compartmentalization of metabolic pathways within organelles is one of the most enigmatic features of trypanosomatids. These unicellular eukaryotes are the only organisms that sequestered glycolysis inside peroxisomes (glycosomes), although the selective advantage of this compartmentalization is still not clear. Trypanosomatids are also unique for the glycosomal localisation of enzymes of the sugar nucleotide biosynthetic pathways, which are also present in the cytosol. Here we showed that the cytosolic and glycosomal pathways are functional. Like in all other eukaryotes, the cytosolic pathways feed glycosylation reactions, however the role of the duplicated glycosomal pathways is currently unknown. We also showed that one of these enzymes (UGP) is imported into glycosomes by piggybacking on another glycosomal enzyme (PEPCK), which are not functionally related. The UGP/PEPCK association is unique since all piggybacking examples reported to date involve functionally related interacting partners, which broadens the possible combinations of carrier-cargo proteins being imported as hetero-oligomers.

BreakingNews: cytosolic & glycosomal sugar nucleotide synthesis are functional in #trypanosomes + piggyback of 2 functionally unrelated proteins. Curious? Read the preprint by @OVillafraz &al. @BringaudF @Eri_pinedar #MFP_lab @ApicoLipid @biorxivpreprint

doi.org/10.1101/2021.0…

The latest study of @BringaudF team is online on @biorxivpreprint. It shows that, to adapt to challenging environments in the fly, #trypanosomes can metabolize multiple metabolites, in addition to proline. #Parasites are really scientifically fascinating!

x.com/biorxivpreprin…

Big Congrats🙌 to my @HelmholtzMunich colleagues Michael Sattler (@Michael13120606) and Grzegorz Popowicz! They were awarded the Erwin Schrödinger Prize 🏆🐈‍⬛for their efforts to design compounds that kill #Trypanosomes to cure Chagas and related...

A #PhD. position is available in Dr. Igor Cestari’s Lab, Institute of #Parasitology, McGill University, Montreal, Canada @mcgillu. The project entails the study of antigenic variation and life stage development in #trypanosomes. #sciencejob #research

mcgill.ca/parasitology/p…