TY  - JOUR
A1  - Timm, Thomas
A1  - Annoscia, Giada
A1  - Klein, Jochen
A1  - Lochnit, Günter
T1  - The Eukaryotic elongation factor 1 alpha (eEF1α) from the parasite Leishmania infantum is modified with the immunomodulatory substituent Phosphorylcholine (PC)
T2  - Molecules
N2  - Proteins and glycolipids have been found to be decorated with phosphorylcholine (PC) both in protozoa and nematodes that parasitize humans and animals. PC epitopes can provoke various effects on immune cells leading to an immunomodulation of the host’s immune system that allows long-term persistence of the parasites. So far, only a limited number of PC-modified proteins, mainly from nematodes, have been identified. Infections caused by Leishmania spp. (e.g., L. infantum in southern Europe) affect about 12 million people worldwide and are characterized by a wide spectrum of clinical forms in humans, ranging from cutaneous to fatal visceral leishmaniasis. To establish and maintain the infection, these protozoa are dependent on the secretion of effector molecules into the host for modulating their immune system. In this project, we analyzed the PC modification of L. infantum promastigotes by 2D-gel based proteomics. Western blot analysis with the PC-specific antibody TEPC-15 revealed one PC-substituted protein in this organism, identified as eEF1α. We could demonstrate that the binding of eEF1α to one of its downstream effectors is dependent on its PC-modification. In this study we provide evidence that in this parasite the modification of eEF1α with PC may be essential for its function as an important virulence factor.
KW  - Leishmania infantum
KW  - promastigote
KW  - proteomics
KW  - phosphorylcholine
KW  - immunomodulation
KW  - immunofluorescence
Y1  - 2017
UR  - http://publikationen.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/46880
UR  - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-468807
SN  - 1420-3049
N1  - This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. (CC BY 4.0).
VL  - 22
IS  - 12, Art. 2094
SP  - 1
EP  - 16
PB  - MDPI
CY  - Basel
ER  -