Trypanosoma brucei BRCA2 in the regulation of genome stability and DNA repair

Trypanosoma brucei is a protistan parasite of mammals that evades its host’s immune responses by antigenic variation, which in T. brucei involves the periodic switching of the Variant Surface Glycoprotein (VSG) coat to antigenically distinct variants. The T. brucei genome contains a huge archive of silent VSG genes that are expressed from specialised expression sites, only one of which is actively transcribed at any one time. Copying of silent VSG genes into the active expression site has been shown to occur by homologous recombination, as mutation of the RAD51 recombinase and a distantly related gene, RAD51-3, impairs this process. BRCA2 is a protein that binds and regulates the function of Rad51 during homologous recombination. Mutation of BRCA2 in bloodstream form T. brucei leads to increased sensitivity to DNA damaging agents, and impairments in homologous recombination, RAD51 subnuclear foci formation and VSG switching, suggesting that it too acts in recombination-repair and antigenic variation. Beyond these phenotypes, an accumulation of putative gross chromosomal rearrangements in the megabase chromosomes of the T. brucei genome and a novel replication phenotype were also observed, and the basis of both these processes was unclear. T. brucei BRCA2 is highly unusual relative to orthologues in other eukaryotes, as the protein contains an expansion in the number of RAD51-binding BRC repeat motifs, which are arranged in a tandem repeat array that has not been observed elsewhere. In order to examine the function of BRCA2 in the maintenance of genome stability in T. brucei, brca2 homozygous mutants were generated in procyclic form TREU 927 and Lister 427 cells. Analysis of genomic stability by Southern blotting and pulsed field agarose gel electrophoresis revealed that BRCA2’s function in the maintenance of genome stability appears to be either bloodstream form-specific, or plays a more substantial role in this life cycle stage. To examine the function of the BRC repeat expansion, cell lines containing variants of BRCA2 with reduced numbers of BRC repeats were generated, expressed in brca2 homozygous mutants and phenotype analysis carried out. Growth and DNA repair were restored by the expression of virtually all variants, suggesting the BRC repeat expansion is not an adaptation for general genome maintenance, though the repair activity of a variant with a single BRC repeat appeared to differ between bloodstream and procyclic form parasites. In contrast to this, a striking correlation between BRC repeat number and the regulation of RAD51 subnuclear dynamics was observed, showing that the BRC array expansion has important functional significance. GST pull-down analysis was used to examine the domains of T. brucei BRCA2 that interact with RAD51, revealing an extent of interaction not apparent in BRCA2 orthologues in other organisms. This complexity of interaction was further analysed by immunolocalisation of BRCA2 and RAD51, before and after DNA damage, which showed potentially dynamic co-localisation of the two repair factors. Finally, a putative interaction between T. brucei BRCA2 and CDC45 was tested both in vitro and in vivo, but could not be validated, suggesting it does not provide an explanation for the replication defects observed in bloodstream form brca2-/- mutant cells. All of the analyses above shed light on the function of the BRCA2 protein in the regulation of homologous recombination in T. brucei

Insights into antitrypanosomal drug mode-of-action from cytology-based profiling

Chemotherapy continues to have a major impact on reducing the burden of disease caused by trypanosomatids. Unfortunately though, the mode-of-action (MoA) of antitrypanosomal drugs typically remains unclear or only partially characterised. This is the case for four of five current drugs used to treat Human African Trypanosomiasis (HAT); eflornithine is a specific inhibitor of ornithine decarboxylase. Here, we used a panel of T. brucei cellular assays to probe the MoA of the current HAT drugs. The assays included DNA-staining followed by microscopy and quantitative image analysis, or flow cytometry; terminal dUTP nick end labelling to monitor mitochondrial (kinetoplast) DNA replication; antibody-based detection of sites of nuclear DNA damage; and fluorescent dye-staining of mitochondria or lysosomes. We found that melarsoprol inhibited mitosis; nifurtimox reduced mitochondrial protein abundance; pentamidine triggered progressive loss of kinetoplast DNA and disruption of mitochondrial membrane potential; and suramin inhibited cytokinesis. Thus, current antitrypanosomal drugs perturb distinct and specific cellular compartments, structures or cell cycle phases. Further exploiting the findings, we show that putative mitogen-activated protein-kinases contribute to the melarsoprol-induced mitotic defect, reminiscent of the mitotic arrest associated signalling cascade triggered by arsenicals in mammalian cells, used to treat leukaemia. Thus, cytology-based profiling can rapidly yield novel insight into antitrypanosomal drug MoA

Oligo targeting for profiling drug resistance mutations in the parasitic trypanosomatids

Trypanosomatids cause the neglected tropical diseases, sleeping sickness, Chagas disease and the leishmaniases. Studies on these lethal parasites would be further facilitated by new and improved genetic technologies. Scalable precision editing methods, for example, could be used to improve our understanding of potential mutations associated with drug resistance, a current priority given that several new anti-trypanosomal drugs, with known targets, are currently in clinical development. We report the development of a simple oligo targeting method for rapid and precise editing of priority drug targets in otherwise wild type trypanosomatids. In Trypanosoma brucei, approx. 50-b single-stranded oligodeoxynucleotides were optimal, multiple base edits could be incorporated, and editing efficiency was substantially increased when mismatch repair was suppressed. Resistance-associated edits were introduced in T. brucei cyclin dependent kinase 12 (CRK12, L(482)F) or cleavage and polyadenylation specificity factor 3 (N(232)H), in the Trypanosoma cruzi proteasome β5 subunit (G(208)S), or in Leishmania donovani CRK12 (G(572)D). We further implemented oligo targeting for site saturation mutagenesis, targeting codon G(492) in T. brucei CRK12. This approach, combined with amplicon sequencing for codon variant scoring, revealed fourteen resistance conferring G(492) edits encoding six distinct amino acids. The outputs confirm on-target drug activity, reveal a variety of resistance-associated mutations, and facilitate rapid assessment of potential impacts on drug efficacy

Trypanosoma brucei BRCA2 acts in a life cycle-specific genome stability process and dictates BRC repeat number-dependent RAD51 subnuclear dynamics

Trypanosoma brucei survives in mammals through antigenic variation, which is driven by RAD51-directed homologous recombination of Variant Surface Glycoproteins (VSG) genes, most of which reside in a subtelomeric repository of >1000 silent genes. A key regulator of RAD51 is BRCA2, which in T. brucei contains a dramatic expansion of a motif that mediates interaction with RAD51, termed the BRC repeats. BRCA2 mutants were made in both tsetse fly-derived and mammal-derived T. brucei, and we show that BRCA2 loss has less impact on the health of the former. In addition, we find that genome instability, a hallmark of BRCA2 loss in other organisms, is only seen in mammal-derived T. brucei. By generating cells expressing BRCA2 variants with altered BRC repeat numbers, we show that the BRC repeat expansion is crucial for RAD51 subnuclear dynamics after DNA damage. Finally, we document surprisingly limited co-localization of BRCA2 and RAD51 in the T. brucei nucleus, and we show that BRCA2 mutants display aberrant cell division, revealing a function distinct from BRC-mediated RAD51 interaction. We propose that BRCA2 acts to maintain the huge VSG repository of T. brucei, and this function has necessitated the evolution of extensive RAD51 interaction via the BRC repeats, allowing re-localization of the recombinase to general genome damage when needed

The role of genomic location and flanking 3′UTR in the generation of functional levels of variant surface glycoprotein in Trypanosoma brucei

Trypanosoma brucei faces relentless immune attack in the mammalian bloodstream, where it is protected by an essential coat of Variant Surface Glycoprotein (VSG) comprising ∼10% total protein. The active VSG gene is in a Pol I‐transcribed telomeric expression site (ES). We investigated factors mediating these extremely high levels of VSG expression by inserting ectopic VSG117 into VSG221 expressing T. brucei. Mutational analysis of the ectopic VSG 3′UTR demonstrated the essentiality of a conserved 16‐mer for mRNA stability. Expressing ectopic VSG117 from different genomic locations showed that functional VSG levels could be produced from a gene 60 kb upstream of its normal telomeric location. High, but very heterogeneous levels of VSG117 were obtained from the Pol I‐transcribed rDNA. Blocking VSG synthesis normally triggers a precise precytokinesis cell‐cycle checkpoint. VSG117 expression from the rDNA was not adequate for functional complementation, and the stalled cells arrested prior to cytokinesis. However, VSG levels were not consistently low enough to trigger a characteristic ‘VSG synthesis block’ cell‐cycle checkpoint, as some cells reinitiated S phase. This demonstrates the essentiality of a Pol I‐transcribed ES, as well as conserved VSG 3′UTR 16‐mer sequences for the generation of functional levels of VSG expression in bloodstream form T. brucei