Evolutionary diversification of the trypanosome haptoglobin-haemoglobin receptor from an ancestral haemoglobin receptor

  1. Harriet Lane-Serff
  2. Paula MacGregor
  3. Lori Peacock
  4. Olivia JS Macleod
  5. Christopher Kay
  6. Wendy Gibson
  7. Matthew K Higgins  Is a corresponding author
  8. Mark Carrington
  1. University of Oxford, United Kingdom
  2. University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
  3. University of Bristol, United Kingdom

Abstract

The haptoglobin-haemoglobin receptor of the African trypanosome species, Trypanosoma brucei, is expressed when the parasite is in the bloodstream of the mammalian host, allowing it to acquire haem through the uptake of haptoglobin-haemoglobin complexes. Here we show that in Trypanosoma congolense this receptor is instead expressed in the epimastigote developmental stage that occurs in the tsetse fly, where it acts as a haemoglobin receptor. We also present the structure of the T. congolense receptor in complex with haemoglobin. This allows us to propose an evolutionary history for this receptor, charting the structural and cellular changes that took place as it adapted from a role in the insect to a new role in the mammalian host.

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Author details

  1. Harriet Lane-Serff

    Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  2. Paula MacGregor

    Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  3. Lori Peacock

    School of Veterinary Science, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  4. Olivia JS Macleod

    Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  5. Christopher Kay

    School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  6. Wendy Gibson

    School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  7. Matthew K Higgins

    Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
    For correspondence
    matthew.higgins@bioch.ox.ac.uk
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  8. Mark Carrington

    Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

Reviewing Editor

  1. Dominique Soldati-Favre, University of Geneva, Switzerland

Version history

  1. Received: November 14, 2015
  2. Accepted: April 14, 2016
  3. Accepted Manuscript published: April 15, 2016 (version 1)
  4. Version of Record published: June 1, 2016 (version 2)

Copyright

© 2016, Lane-Serff et al.

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.

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  1. Harriet Lane-Serff
  2. Paula MacGregor
  3. Lori Peacock
  4. Olivia JS Macleod
  5. Christopher Kay
  6. Wendy Gibson
  7. Matthew K Higgins
  8. Mark Carrington
(2016)
Evolutionary diversification of the trypanosome haptoglobin-haemoglobin receptor from an ancestral haemoglobin receptor
eLife 5:e13044.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.13044

Share this article

https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.13044

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