Cold shock regulation
The cold shock regulation is an essential mechanism of the transfer agent of sleeping sickness ( Trypanosoma brucei ) to refer to a change of host between man and the Fly tsetse adapt.
Explanation
The single cell Trypanosoma brucei is an important parasite and carrier of the notorious sleeping sickness, which is mainly found in warmer, subtropical areas. The disease is transmitted by the tse-tse fly.
The parasite is initially located in the salivary gland of the intermediate host and is stinged into the human blood . It goes through an extreme temperature increase of 17 ° C, as the saliva temperature in the fly is only 20 ° C and the body temperature of humans is 37 ° C. In order to adapt to the changed environment, it has a mechanism known as cold shock .
This mechanism becomes active as soon as the parasite is taken up again by the intermediate host. The drop in temperature creates new surface proteins, all other functions are retained.
The genes that form the surface structure of the parasite at 20 ° C have a special sequence at their 3 'end . After transcription , in which the DNA is rewritten into RNA , this has a three-dimensional structure that differs greatly depending on whether the parasite is in the blood or in the saliva. The structure of this strange RNA means that it is only further transcribed into proteins in the saliva of the intermediate host and forms the new surface of the parasite. At 37 ° C, however, no new proteins are synthesized with this RNA and the old surface structure remains.
This one-sided formation of proteins ensures simultaneous survival in both habitats.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Cold shock regulation of the procycline surface protein of Trypanosoma brucei. In: Martin Brenndörfer, dissertation, LMU Munich: Faculty of Biology. August 13, 2014, accessed April 7, 2020 .