Eimeria tenella: 14-3-3 protein interacts with telomerase.

Telomerase, consisting of telomerase RNA and telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT), is responsible for the maintenance of the end of linear chromosomes. TERT, as the catalytic subunit of telomerase, plays a critical role in telomerase activity. Researches indicate TERT-associated proteins participate in the regulation of telomerase assembly, posttranslational modification, localization, and enzymatic function. Here, the telomerase RNA-binding domain of Eimeria tenella TERT (EtTRBD) was cloned into pGBKT7 and performed as the bait. α-Galactosidase assay showed that the bait plasmid did not activate Gal4 reporter gene. Further, we isolated an EtTRBD-associated protein, 14-3-3, by yeast two-hybrid screening using the constructed bait plasmid. To confirm the interaction, EtTRBD and 14-3-3 were expressed by prokaryotic and eukaryotic expression systems. Pull-down assays by purified proteins demonstrated a direct bind between EtTRBD and 14-3-3. Co-immunoprecipitation techniques successfully validated that 14-3-3 interacted with EtTRBD in 293T cells. The protein-protein interaction provides a starting point for more in-depth studies on telomerase and telomere regulation in E. tenella.