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Publications

Journal Article Epublish

PubMed: 40745619 DOI: 10.1186/s13071-025-06969-8

Impact on the Leishmania mexicana transcriptome due to knockout of genes encoding orthologs of methyltransferases involved in m1A and m5C mRNA modifications.

Parasit Vectors 18(1):315

Authors: Angela Moreira Bezerra, Ariely Barbosa Leite, Christian Robson de Souza Reis, João Luiz de Lemos Padilha Pitta, Suellen Rodrigues Maran, Nilmar Silvio Moretti, Danielle Maria Nascimento Moura, Antonio Mauro Rezende

Affiliations

  • Department of Microbiology, Aggeu Magalhães Institute, Fiocruz Pernambuco, Recife, PE, Brazil.
  • Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Parasitology, UNIFESP, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
  • Department of Microbiology, Aggeu Magalhães Institute, Fiocruz Pernambuco, Recife, PE, Brazil. Institute of Biological Sciences, University of Pernambuco (ICB/UPE), Recife, PE, Brazil.
  • Department of Pathology and Microbiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Université de Montréal, Saint-Hyacinthe, Canada.
  • The Research Group on Infectious Diseases in Production Animals (GREMIP), Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Montreal, Saint-Hyacinthe, Canada.
  • Department of Immunology, Aggeu Magalhães Institute, Fiocruz Pernambuco, Recife, PE, Brazil.
  • Department of Microbiology, Aggeu Magalhães Institute, Fiocruz Pernambuco, Recife, PE, Brazil.
  • Research Group of Biotechnology Applied to Pathogens, René Rachou Institute, Fiocruz Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.

Abstract

BACKGROUND

Chemical modifications of mRNAs constitute an alternative mechanism for gene expression regulation, which involves proteins responsible for adding, recognizing and removing these modifications. While orthologs of enzymes involved in adding m1A (TRMT6/TRMT61A) and m5C (NSUN2) modifications are present in trypanosomatid species, a clear understanding of their biological role in these parasites is necessary.

METHODS

To shed light on this, we genetically manipulated the TRMT61A and NSUN2 protein-encoding genes in the Leishmania mexicana species using the CRISPR-Cas9 editing technique and analyzed the impact on cell growth and differentiation as well as the global gene expression profile.

RESULTS

Deletion of the genes investigated here caused changes in the normal pattern of L. mexicana differentiation, and functional analyses of differentially expressed genes in the mutants unveiled significant biological effects. For the TRMT61A gene, transcripts related to nucleotide metabolism, translation, protein folding and refolding were affected. For the NSUN2 genes, enrichment analysis indicated impacts on biological processes mostly related to nucleotide metabolism and DNA binding.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings provide insights into the role of these methyltransferases orthologs in the regulation of trypanosomatid transcriptome, contributing to our understanding of gene expression control in this parasite.

MeSH

Genes, Methyltransferases, Transcriptome, Rna, Messenger, Parasites, Gene Expression