Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31289266›Full record

ArticleNature communications2019

Monoallelic expression and epigenetic inheritance sustained by a Trypanosoma brucei variant surface glycoprotein exclusion complex.

Joana Faria, Lucy Glover, Sebastian Hutchinson, Cordula Boehm, Mark C Field, David Horn

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 47 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
47citing papers in PubMed
8.6field-weighted citation impact, top 2% 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

47 citing papers in PubMed, 90 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Microbiology spectrum · 2026
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  5. A factor integrating transcription and repression of surface antigen genes in African trypanosomes.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026
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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

6 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Joana FariaThe Wellcome Trust Centre for Anti-Infectives Research, School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dow Street, Dundee, DD1 5EH, UK.
Lucy GloverThe Wellcome Trust Centre for Anti-Infectives Research, School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dow Street, Dundee, DD1 5EH, UK.
Sebastian HutchinsonThe Wellcome Trust Centre for Anti-Infectives Research, School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dow Street, Dundee, DD1 5EH, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3895-0282
Cordula BoehmThe Wellcome Trust Centre for Anti-Infectives Research, School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dow Street, Dundee, DD1 5EH, UK.
Mark C FieldThe Wellcome Trust Centre for Anti-Infectives Research, School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dow Street, Dundee, DD1 5EH, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4866-2885
David HornThe Wellcome Trust Centre for Anti-Infectives Research, School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dow Street, Dundee, DD1 5EH, UK. d.horn@dundee.ac.uk.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5173-9284
University of Dundee · GBInserm · FRInstitut Pasteur · FR

Funding

Wellcome Trust 204697/Z/16/ZWellcome Trust 205023/Z/16/Z
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The largest gene families in eukaryotes are subject to allelic exclusion, but mechanisms underpinning single allele selection and inheritance remain unclear. Here, we describe a protein complex sustaining variant surface glycoprotein (VSG) allelic exclusion and antigenic variation in Trypanosoma brucei parasites. The VSG-exclusion-1 (VEX1) protein binds both telomeric VSG-associated chromatin and VEX2, an ortholog of nonsense-mediated-decay helicase, UPF1. VEX1 and VEX2 assemble in an RNA polymerase-I transcription-dependent manner and sustain the active, subtelomeric VSG-associated transcription compartment. VSG transcripts and VSG coats become highly heterogeneous when VEX proteins are depleted. Further, the DNA replication-associated chromatin assembly factor, CAF-1, binds to and specifically maintains VEX1 compartmentalisation following DNA replication. Thus, the VEX-complex controls VSG-exclusion, while CAF-1 sustains VEX-complex inheritance in association with the active-VSG. Notably, the VEX2-orthologue and CAF-1 in mammals are also implicated in exclusion and inheritance functions. In trypanosomes, these factors sustain a highly effective and paradigmatic immune evasion strategy.

Indexed as

AllelesAnimalsAntigenic VariationCell LineChromatin Assembly Factor-1DNA ReplicationEpigenesis, GeneticGene Expression RegulationHost-Parasite InteractionsImmune EvasionProtozoan ProteinsTranscription, GeneticTrypanosoma brucei bruceiTrypanosomiasis, AfricanVariant Surface Glycoproteins, TrypanosomaChromatin Assembly Factor-1Protozoan ProteinsVariant Surface Glycoproteins, Trypanosoma

Identifiers

PMID31289266
PMCPMC6617441
OpenAlexW2960966051

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
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.