Uliana S R, Goyal N, Freymüller E, Smith D F
Department of Biochemistry, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, London, SW7 2AZ, UK.
Exp Parasitol. 1999 Jul;92(3):183-91. doi: 10.1006/expr.1999.4410.
The meta 1 gene of Leishmania major is upregulated in metacyclic promastigotes and encodes an 11.5-kDa protein with no significant similarities to other proteins in the existing databases. In this paper, we characterize the homologous meta 1 genes in L. amazonensis and L. donovani. Proteins encoded by this gene in all three species present a high degree of identity. The meta 1 gene cannot be replaced by gene targeting in L. major, suggesting an essential role for the protein, at least in promastigotes. Overexpression of the meta 1 protein in L. amazonensis generates parasites that are more virulent than wild-type organisms in vivo.
硕大利什曼原虫的meta 1基因在循环前鞭毛体中上调，编码一种11.5 kDa的蛋白质，与现有数据库中的其他蛋白质没有显著相似性。在本文中，我们鉴定了亚马逊利什曼原虫和杜氏利什曼原虫中的同源meta 1基因。该基因在这三个物种中编码的蛋白质具有高度的同一性。在硕大利什曼原虫中，meta 1基因不能通过基因靶向被取代，这表明该蛋白质至少在原鞭毛体中具有重要作用。在亚马逊利什曼原虫中过表达meta 1蛋白会产生在体内比野生型生物体更具毒性的寄生虫。
