Publication Abstract from PubMed
The variable domain of the trypanosome variant surface glycoprotein (VSG) ILTat 1.24 has been shown by X-ray crystallography to resemble closely the structures of VSG MITat 1.2, despite their low sequence similarity. Specific structural features of these VSGs, including substitution of carbohydrate for an alpha-helix, can be found in other VSG sequences. Thus antigenic variation in trypanosomes is accomplished by sequence variation, not gross structural alteration; the extensive sequence differences among VSGs may be required for another reason, such as the avoidance of recognition by helper T cells. Additionally, VSG sequences are found to define families, within a VSG superfamily, which have evolved in the trypanosome genome.
A structural motif in the variant surface glycoproteins of Trypanosoma brucei.,Blum ML, Down JA, Gurnett AM, Carrington M, Turner MJ, Wiley DC Nature. 1993 Apr 15;362(6421):603-9. PMID:8464512[1]
From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
