Post-transcriptional elements regulating expression of mRNAs from the amastin/tuzin gene cluster of Trypanosoma cruzi.

The genome of Trypanosoma cruzi contains tandemly arrayed copies of the gene encoding amastin, an abundant protein on the surface of the amastigote stage of the parasite. The transcription rate of the amastin genes is the same in the different developmental stages, but the steady state level of the 1.4-kilobase amastin mRNA is 50-85 times higher in amastigotes than in epimastigotes or trypomastigotes (1). Here we show that the amastin genes alternate with genes encoding another protein, called tuzin, whose 1.7-kilobase mRNA is much less abundant in amastigotes. The 3'-untranslated region (UTR) of tuzin mRNA is only a few nucleotides in length or even nonexistent, in contrast with the 630-nucleotide 3'-UTR of amastin mRNA. No promoter elements were found upstream or within the amastin/tuzin gene cluster. However, in amastigotes, the protein synthesis inhibitor cycloheximide caused a 3-fold decrease in amastin mRNA and a 7-fold increase in tuzin mRNA. Furthermore, when the amastin 3'-UTR plus its downstream intergenic region were fused behind the luciferase coding region in a chimeric plasmid for transient transfections, luciferase activity increased 7-fold in amastigotes and decreased 5-fold in epimastigotes. Thus, developmental expression of these alternating genes is regulated by different mechanisms.