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Altered expression of an RBP ‐associated arginine methyltransferase 7 in L eishmania major affects parasite infection
Author(s) -
Ferreira Tiago R.,
AlvesFerreira Eliza V. C.,
Defina Tania P. A.,
Walrad Pegine,
Papadopoulou Barbara,
Cruz Angela K.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
molecular microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.857
H-Index - 247
eISSN - 1365-2958
pISSN - 0950-382X
DOI - 10.1111/mmi.12819
Subject(s) - protein arginine methyltransferase 5 , biology , methylation , methyltransferase , arginine , microbiology and biotechnology , mutant , immunoprecipitation , genetics , gene , amino acid
Summary Protein arginine methylation is a widely conserved post‐translational modification performed by arginine methyltransferases ( PRMTs ). However, its functional role in parasitic protozoa is still under‐explored. The L eishmania major genome encodes five PRMT homologs, including PRMT7 . Here we show that Lmj PRMT7 expression and arginine monomethylation are tightly regulated in a lifecycle stage‐dependent manner. Lmj PRMT7 levels are higher during the early promastigote logarithmic phase, negligible at stationary and late‐stationary phases and rise once more post‐differentiation to intracellular amastigotes. Immunofluorescence and co‐immunoprecipitation studies demonstrate that Lmj PRMT7 is a cytosolic protein associated with several RNA ‐binding proteins ( RBPs ) from which A lba20 is monomethylated only in LmjPRMT7 ‐expressing promastigote stages. In addition, A lba20 protein levels are significantly altered in stationary promastigotes of the LmjPRMT7 knockout mutant. Considering RBPs are well‐known mammalian PRMT substrates, our data suggest that arginine methylation via Lmj PRMT7 may modulate RBP function during L eishmania spp. lifecycle progression. Importantly, genomic deletion of the LmjPRMT7 gene leads to an increase in parasite infectivity both in vitro and in vivo , while lesion progression is significantly reduced in LmjPRMT7 ‐overexpressing parasites. This study is the first to describe a role of L eishmania protein arginine methylation in host–parasite interactions.