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Gray S, Fort C, Wheeler RJ. Intraflagellar transport speed is sensitive to genetic and mechanical perturbations to flagellar beating. J Cell Biol 2024; 223:e202401154. [PMID: 38829962 PMCID: PMC11148470 DOI: 10.1083/jcb.202401154] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2024] [Revised: 05/01/2024] [Accepted: 05/13/2024] [Indexed: 06/05/2024] Open
Abstract
Two sets of motor proteins underpin motile cilia/flagella function. The axoneme-associated inner and outer dynein arms drive sliding of adjacent axoneme microtubule doublets to periodically bend the flagellum for beating, while intraflagellar transport (IFT) kinesins and dyneins carry IFT trains bidirectionally along the axoneme. Despite assembling motile cilia and flagella, IFT train speeds have only previously been quantified in immobilized flagella-mechanical immobilization or genetic paralysis. This has limited investigation of the interaction between IFT and flagellar beating. Here, in uniflagellate Leishmania parasites, we use high-frequency, dual-color fluorescence microscopy to visualize IFT train movement in beating flagella. We discovered that adhesion of flagella to a microscope slide is detrimental, reducing IFT train speed and increasing train stalling. In flagella free to move, IFT train speed is not strongly dependent on flagella beat type; however, permanent disruption of flagella beating by deletion of genes necessary for formation or regulation of beating showed an inverse correlation of beat frequency and IFT train speed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sophie Gray
- Nuffield Department of Medicine, Peter Medawar Building for Pathogen Research, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Cecile Fort
- Nuffield Department of Medicine, Peter Medawar Building for Pathogen Research, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Richard John Wheeler
- Nuffield Department of Medicine, Peter Medawar Building for Pathogen Research, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
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Godar S, Oristian J, Hinsch V, Wentworth K, Lopez E, Amlashi P, Enverso G, Markley S, Alper JD. Light chain 2 is a Tctex-type related axonemal dynein light chain that regulates directional ciliary motility in Trypanosoma brucei. PLoS Pathog 2022; 18:e1009984. [PMID: 36155669 PMCID: PMC9536576 DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1009984] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2021] [Revised: 10/06/2022] [Accepted: 08/26/2022] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Flagellar motility is essential for the cell morphology, viability, and virulence of pathogenic kinetoplastids. Trypanosoma brucei flagella beat with a bending wave that propagates from the flagellum's tip to its base, rather than base-to-tip as in other eukaryotes. Thousands of dynein motor proteins coordinate their activity to drive ciliary bending wave propagation. Dynein-associated light and intermediate chains regulate the biophysical mechanisms of axonemal dynein. Tctex-type outer arm dynein light chain 2 (LC2) regulates flagellar bending wave propagation direction, amplitude, and frequency in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. However, the role of Tctex-type light chains in regulating T. brucei motility is unknown. Here, we used a combination of bioinformatics, in-situ molecular tagging, and immunofluorescence microscopy to identify a Tctex-type light chain in the procyclic form of T. brucei (TbLC2). We knocked down TbLC2 expression using RNAi in both wild-type and FLAM3, a flagellar attachment zone protein, knockdown cells and quantified TbLC2's effects on trypanosome cell biology and biophysics. We found that TbLC2 knockdown reduced the directional persistence of trypanosome cell swimming, induced an asymmetric ciliary bending waveform, modulated the bias between the base-to-tip and tip-to-base beating modes, and increased the beating frequency. Together, our findings are consistent with a model of TbLC2 as a down-regulator of axonemal dynein activity that stabilizes the forward tip-to-base beating ciliary waveform characteristic of trypanosome cells. Our work sheds light on axonemal dynein regulation mechanisms that contribute to pathogenic kinetoplastids' unique tip-to-base ciliary beating nature and how those mechanisms underlie dynein-driven ciliary motility more generally.
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Affiliation(s)
- Subash Godar
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, College of Science, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina, United States of America
- Eukaryotic Pathogens Innovation Center, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina, United States of America
| | - James Oristian
- Eukaryotic Pathogens Innovation Center, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina, United States of America
- Department of Genetics and Biochemistry, College of Science, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina, United States of America
| | - Valerie Hinsch
- Eukaryotic Pathogens Innovation Center, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina, United States of America
- Department of Genetics and Biochemistry, College of Science, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina, United States of America
| | - Katherine Wentworth
- Eukaryotic Pathogens Innovation Center, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina, United States of America
- Department of Biological Sciences, College of Science, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina, United States of America
| | - Ethan Lopez
- Eukaryotic Pathogens Innovation Center, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina, United States of America
- Department of Genetics and Biochemistry, College of Science, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina, United States of America
| | - Parastoo Amlashi
- Eukaryotic Pathogens Innovation Center, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina, United States of America
- Department of Biological Sciences, College of Science, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina, United States of America
| | - Gerald Enverso
- Eukaryotic Pathogens Innovation Center, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina, United States of America
- Department of Biological Sciences, College of Science, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina, United States of America
| | - Samantha Markley
- Eukaryotic Pathogens Innovation Center, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina, United States of America
- Department of Biological Sciences, College of Science, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina, United States of America
| | - Joshua Daniel Alper
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, College of Science, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina, United States of America
- Eukaryotic Pathogens Innovation Center, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina, United States of America
- Department of Biological Sciences, College of Science, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina, United States of America
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Espada CR, Quilles JC, Albuquerque-Wendt A, Cruz MC, Beneke T, Lorenzon LB, Gluenz E, Cruz AK, Uliana SRB. Effective Genome Editing in Leishmania ( Viannia) braziliensis Stably Expressing Cas9 and T7 RNA Polymerase. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2021; 11:772311. [PMID: 34858879 PMCID: PMC8631273 DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2021.772311] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2021] [Accepted: 10/19/2021] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Until 2015, loss-of-function studies to elucidate protein function in Leishmania relied on gene disruption through homologous recombination. Then, the CRISPR/Cas9 revolution reached these protozoan parasites allowing efficient genome editing with one round of transfection. In addition, the development of LeishGEdit, a PCR-based toolkit for generating knockouts and tagged lines using CRISPR/Cas9, allowed a more straightforward and effective genome editing. In this system, the plasmid pTB007 is delivered to Leishmania for episomal expression or integration in the β-tubulin locus and for the stable expression of T7 RNA polymerase and Cas9. In South America, and especially in Brazil, Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis is the most frequent etiological agent of tegumentary leishmaniasis. The L. braziliensis β-tubulin locus presents significant sequence divergence in comparison with Leishmania major, which precludes the efficient integration of pTB007 and the stable expression of Cas9. To overcome this limitation, the L. major β-tubulin sequences, present in the pTB007, were replaced by a Leishmania (Viannia) β-tubulin conserved sequence generating the pTB007_Viannia plasmid. This modification allowed the successful integration of the pTB007_Viannia cassette in the L. braziliensis M2903 genome, and in silico predictions suggest that this can also be achieved in other Viannia species. The activity of Cas9 was evaluated by knocking out the flagellar protein PF16, which caused a phenotype of immobility in these transfectants. Endogenous PF16 was also successfully tagged with mNeonGreen, and an in-locus complementation strategy was employed to return a C-terminally tagged copy of the PF16 gene to the original locus, which resulted in the recovery of swimming capacity. The modified plasmid pTB007_Viannia allowed the integration and stable expression of both T7 RNA polymerase and Cas9 in L. braziliensis and provided an important tool for the study of the biology of this parasite.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caroline R Espada
- Departamento de Parasitologia, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.,Departamento de Biologia Celular e Molecular, Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo (FMRP-USP), Ribeirão Preto, Brazil
| | - José Carlos Quilles
- Departamento de Biologia Celular e Molecular, Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo (FMRP-USP), Ribeirão Preto, Brazil
| | - Andreia Albuquerque-Wendt
- Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.,Wellcome Centre for Integrative Parasitology, Institute of Infection, Immunity & Inflammation, College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom.,Global Health and Tropical Medicine (GHTM), Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical (IHTM), Universidade de Lisboa (UNL), Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Mario C Cruz
- Centro de Facilidades para Apoio à Pesquisa, Universidade de São Paulo (CEFAP-USP), São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Tom Beneke
- Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Lucas B Lorenzon
- Departamento de Biologia Celular e Molecular, Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo (FMRP-USP), Ribeirão Preto, Brazil
| | - Eva Gluenz
- Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.,Wellcome Centre for Integrative Parasitology, Institute of Infection, Immunity & Inflammation, College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom
| | - Angela K Cruz
- Departamento de Biologia Celular e Molecular, Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo (FMRP-USP), Ribeirão Preto, Brazil
| | - Silvia R B Uliana
- Departamento de Parasitologia, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
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