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Updated: Jul 6, 2026

A Facile Protocol to Generate Site-Specifically Acetylated Proteins in Escherichia Coli
Published on: December 9, 2017
Protein acetylation sites mediated by Schistosoma mansoni GCN5
Renata de Moraes Maciel1, Rodrigo Furtado Madeiro da Costa, Francisco Meirelles Bastos de Oliveira
1Instituto de Bioquímica Médica, Programa de Biologia Molecular e Biotecnologia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, CCS, Ilha do Fundão, Rio de Janeiro 21941-590, Brazil.
Abstract:
The transcriptional co-activator GCN5, a histone acetyltransferase (HAT), is part of large multimeric complexes that are required for chromatin remodeling and transcription activation. As in other eukaryotes, the DNA from the parasite Schistosome mansoni is organized into nucleosomes and the genome encodes components of chromatin-remodeling complexes. Using a series of synthetic peptides we determined that Lys-14 of histone H3 was acetylated by the recombinant SmGCN5-HAT domain. SmGCN5 was also able to acetylate schistosome non-histone proteins, such as the nuclear receptors SmRXR1 and SmNR1, and the co-activator SmNCoA-62. Electron microscopy revealed the presence of SmGCN5 protein in the nuclei of vitelline cells. Within the nucleus, SmGCN5 was found to be located in interchromatin granule clusters (IGCs), which are transcriptionally active structures. The data suggest that SmGCN5 is involved in transcription activation.
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