Multiple terminal uridylyltransferases of trypanosomes
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 23, 2026

Purification of Extracellular Trypanosomes, Including African, from Blood by Anion-Exchangers (Diethylaminoethyl-cellulose Columns)
Published on: April 6, 2019
Ruslan Aphasizhev1, Inna Aphasizheva, Larry Simpson
1Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA. ruslan@uci.edu
Abstract:
The transferase activities that add uridylyl residues to RNA have been reported in several unicellular and metazoan organisms. Thus far, the two terminal uridylyltransferases (TUTases) involved in uridine insertion/deletion mRNA editing in mitochondria of trypanosomes were the only known enzymes with confirmed UTP specificity. Here, we demonstrate that protein sequences of editing TUTases may be used to predict novel UTP-specific enzymes by data mining. The highest-scoring open reading frame from Trypanosoma brucei was expressed and recombinant protein purified. This enzyme catalyzes a processive UMP incorporation and is not localized to the mitochondria suggesting a non-editing biological function.
Related Concept Videos
Antiprotozoal Agents
Pharmacogenetics of Phase II Enzymes: N-acetyltransferase, Thiopurine S-methyltransferase, UDP-glucuronosyltransferase
RNA Editing
American Trypanosomiasis
Insertion of Multi-pass Transmembrane Proteins in the RER
The multipass transmembrane proteins are the type IV integral membrane proteins with multiple topogenic sequences determining their spatial arrangement in the ER membrane. Nearly all multipass proteins lack a cleavable signal sequence and use...
Trichomoniasis

