Evidence map›Paper›PMID 20628569›Full record

ArticlePLoS pathogens2010

TOPO3alpha influences antigenic variation by monitoring expression-site-associated VSG switching in Trypanosoma brucei.

Hee-Sook Kim, George A M Cross

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PLoS pathogens, 2010. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 55 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
55citing papers in PubMed
3.0field-weighted citation impact, top 9% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

55 citing papers in PubMed, 76 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Microbiology spectrum · 2026
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  8. Regulation of Antigenic Variation byPathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021
    Review
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  11. Review
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  19. Review
  20. African trypanosomes expressing multiple VSGs are rapidly eliminated by the host immune system.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2019
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Hee-Sook KimLaboratory of Molecular Parasitology, The Rockefeller University, New York, New York, United States of America.
George A M Cross
Rockefeller University · US

Funding

MOLECULAR GENETICS OF TRYPANOSOME ANTIGENIC VARIATIONR01AI021729 · NIAID · ROCKEFELLER UNIVERSITY · PI CROSS, GEORGE ALAN MARTIN · 1985 to 2011
$5.3M
NIAID NIH HHS R01 AI021729NIAID NIH HHS R01AI021729
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Homologous recombination (HR) mediates one of the major mechanisms of trypanosome antigenic variation by placing a different variant surface glycoprotein (VSG) gene under the control of the active expression site (ES). It is believed that the majority of VSG switching events occur by duplicative gene conversion, but only a few DNA repair genes that are central to HR have been assigned a role in this process. Gene conversion events that are associated with crossover are rarely seen in VSG switching, similar to mitotic HR. In other organisms, TOPO3alpha (Top3 in yeasts), a type IA topoisomerase, is part of a complex that is involved in the suppression of crossovers. We therefore asked whether a related mechanism might suppress VSG recombination. Using a set of reliable recombination and switching assays that could score individual switching mechanisms, we discovered that TOPO3alpha function is conserved in Trypanosoma brucei and that TOPO3alpha plays a critical role in antigenic switching. Switching frequency increased 10-40-fold in the absence of TOPO3alpha and this hyper-switching phenotype required RAD51. Moreover, the preference of 70-bp repeats for VSG recombination was mitigated, while homology regions elsewhere in ES were highly favored, in the absence of TOPO3alpha. Our data suggest that TOPO3alpha may remove undesirable recombination intermediates constantly arising between active and silent ESs, thereby balancing ES integrity against VSG recombination.

Indexed as

Gene ConversionAntigenic VariationBacterial ProteinsDNA Topoisomerases, Type IFungal ProteinsHumansRecombination, GeneticTrypanosoma brucei bruceiVariant Surface Glycoproteins, TrypanosomaBacterial ProteinsDNA Topoisomerases, Type IFungal ProteinsVariant Surface Glycoproteins, Trypanosoma

Identifiers

PMID20628569
PMCPMC2900300
OpenAlexW2014876899

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.