DEVELOPMENT OF MOLECULAR TRANSFECTION METHODS IN LEPTOMONAS

Abstract

Cilia/flagellum are essential for cell motility, sensing and signaling. The ciliary axoneme contains multiple subunits like the outer dynein arm and inner dynein arm. The outer dynein arm is vital for cilia beating. The protein complex includes several heavy, intermediate and light chains. Those proteins are crucial for the dyneins’ assembly and trafficking in the flagellum. Any of the ODA subunits was knocked down, the other ODA subunits could not be targeted to the flagella. In T. brucei, the outer dynein complex contains two heavy chains-αHC and βHC, two intermediate chains IC1 and IC2 and several light chains. αHC is encoded by Tb927.3.930 and is necessary for cell motility and cell cycle. βHC is encoded by Tb927.11.3250 and is essential for flagellum and associate structure. Trypanosoma brucei (T. Brucei) is a perfect model for organelle biology studies. In this study, four ODA subunits were used to examine the flagellum assembly mechanism.