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Calcium-binding proteins that are type B″ regulatory subunits of phosphatase 2A in Giardia intestinalis

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Abstract

Giardia intestinalis is a protozoan parasite that colonizes the upper part of the small intestine of its mammalian hosts. The trophozoite, which is the replicative stage, has a complex cytoskeleton that allows it to move and adhere to intestinal cells. It has been proposed that protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) participates in the regulation of changes to the parasite cytoskeleton during its life cycle. However, how PP2A is involved in this regulation remains unclear since its substrates and regulators have not been characterized. In this work, we report the bioinformatic and experimental analysis of two potential regulatory B″ subunits of PP2A in Giardia, both of which are calcium-binding proteins. In this work, in silico and experimental evidence of the binding of both proteins to calcium is presented; the proteins are shown to interact with the catalytic PP2A subunit in the trophozoite stage, and they exhibit different subcellular localization patterns. Because PP2A is a heterotrimer, homology analysis of the different subunits of PP2A indicates that fewer holoenzyme combinations can be formed in this parasite than in other organisms. Our results suggest that the localization of PP2A may be associated with calcium-dependent signaling through its B″ type regulatory subunits.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Dra. Myriam Velandia (Universidad El Bosque, Bogotá) for her kind collaboration.

Funding

This work was supported by COLCIENCIAS (Fondo Nacional de Financiamiento, Contrato de Recuperación Contingente-FP44842-334-2014—M.W.).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratorio de Investigaciones Básicas en Bioquímica – LIBBIQ, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia

    Magda E. Alvarado, Claudia Rubiano, William Sánchez, Andrea Díaz & Moisés Wasserman

Authors
  1. Magda E. Alvarado
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  2. Claudia Rubiano
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  3. William Sánchez
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  4. Andrea Díaz
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  5. Moisés Wasserman
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Correspondence to Magda E. Alvarado.

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The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

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Section Editor: Panagiotis Karanis

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Alvarado, M.E., Rubiano, C., Sánchez, W. et al. Calcium-binding proteins that are type B″ regulatory subunits of phosphatase 2A in Giardia intestinalis. Parasitol Res 117, 3205–3214 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-018-6019-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-018-6019-z

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