Alternative splicing of coq-2 controls the levels of rhodoquinone in animals.
Elife
; 92020 08 03.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-32744503
ABSTRACT
Parasitic helminths use two benzoquinones as electron carriers in the electron transport chain. In normoxia, they use ubiquinone (UQ), but in anaerobic conditions inside the host, they require rhodoquinone (RQ) and greatly increase RQ levels. We previously showed the switch from UQ to RQ synthesis is driven by a change of substrates by the polyprenyltransferase COQ-2 (Del Borrello et al., 2019; Roberts Buceta et al., 2019); however, the mechanism of substrate selection is not known. Here, we show helminths synthesize two coq-2 splice forms, coq-2a and coq-2e, and the coq-2e-specific exon is only found in species that synthesize RQ. We show that in Caenorhabditis elegans COQ-2e is required for efficient RQ synthesis and survival in cyanide. Importantly, parasites switch from COQ-2a to COQ-2e as they transit into anaerobic environments. We conclude helminths switch from UQ to RQ synthesis principally via changes in the alternative splicing of coq-2.
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Texto completo:
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Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Ubiquinona
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Caenorhabditis elegans
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Processamento Alternativo
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Alquil e Aril Transferases
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Proteínas de Caenorhabditis elegans
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2020
Tipo de documento:
Article