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Identification of two transcription factors that work coordinately to regulate early development in Entamoeba
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Identification of two transcription factors that work coordinately to regulate early development in Entamoeba

Daniela Lozano-Amado and Upinder Singh
mBio, Vol.15(12), p.e0225024
12/11/2024
DOI: 10.1128/mbio.02250-24
PMID: 39540742
url
https://doi.org/10.1128/mbio.02250-24View
Published (Version of record) Open Access

Abstract

The protozoan parasite Entamoeba has a life cycle that switches between infective cysts and invasive trophozoites. Encystation, a crucial process in parasite biology, is controlled by different mechanisms including transcriptional control. We identified two nuclear proteins in Entamoeba invadens, EIN₀66100 and EIN₀85620, that regulate parasite development by binding to a DNA motif (TCACTTTC) in the promoter regions of genes upregulated in the first 8 h of stage conversion. Overexpression of EIN₀66100, a homolog of MAK16 protein, resulted in reduced amoebic proliferation without affecting encystation efficiency. Overexpression of EIN₀85620, a protein with an RNA-recognition motif (RRM), led to increased encystation efficiency. Glutathione S-transferase (GST) pull down assays revealed that EIN₀66100 interacts with EIN₀85620 both in vivo and in vitro, and this interaction is mediated by the EIN₀85620 RRM domain. By evaluating truncated proteins with deletions at either the N-terminal or C-terminal regions of EIN₀66100, we elucidated the importance of its N-terminal region in proper protein localization, proliferation, encystation, and interaction with EIN₀85620. Taken together, these results indicate a coordinated role of EIN₀66100 and EIN₀85620 in regulating Entamoeba development. This work sheds light on the molecular mechanisms in the earliest stages of Entamoeba encystation.

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