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Trypanosoma Brucei Rap1 Has Essential Functional Domains That Are Required For Different Protein Interactions, Marjia Afrin, Hanadi Kishmiri, Ranjodh Sandhu, M. A.G. Rabbani, Bibo Li

Biological, Geological, and Environmental Faculty Publications

RAP1 is a telomere protein that is well conserved from protozoa to mammals. It plays important roles in chromosome end protection, telomere length control, and gene expression/silencing at both telomeric and nontelomeric loci. Interaction with different partners is an important mechanism by which RAP1 executes its different functions in yeast. The RAP1 ortholog in Trypanosoma brucei is essential for variant surface glycoprotein (VSG) monoallelic expression, an important aspect of antigenic variation, where T. brucei regularly switches its major surface antigen, VSG, to evade the host immune response. Like other RAP1 orthologs, T. brucei RAP1 (TbRAP1) has conserved functional domains, including …