Decoding the impact of nuclear organization on antigenic variation in parasites
Nature Microbiology article from the Siegel lab, first author Anna Barcons-Simon
31.07.2023
Anna Barcons-Simon, Mark Carrington and T. Nicolai Siegel (2023 Jul 31) Decoding the impact of nuclear organization on antigenic variation in parasites. Nature Microbiology 8: 1408-1418. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-023-01424-9
Abstract cited directly from the article:
Antigenic variation as a strategy to evade the host adaptive immune response has evolved in divergent pathogens. Antigenic variation involves restricted, and often mutually exclusive, expression of dominant antigens and a periodic switch in antigen expression during infection. In eukaryotes, nuclear compartmentalization, including three-dimensional folding of the genome and physical separation of proteins in compartments or condensates, regulates mutually exclusive gene expression and chromosomal translocations. In this Review, we discuss the impact of nuclear organization on antigenic variation in the protozoan pathogens Trypanosoma brucei and Plasmodium falciparum. In particular, we highlight the relevance of nuclear organization in both mutually exclusive antigen expression and genome stability, which underlie antigenic variation