Developmental differentiation is a universal biological process that allows cells to adapt to different environments to perform specific functions. for accurate karyokinesis in the first cell division during differentiation. This epigenetic regulator is likely involved in essential chromatin restructuring during developmental differentiation, TG 100572 manufacture which might also be important for differentiation in higher eukaryotic cells. Our proteome dataset will serve as a resource for detailed investigations of cell differentiation to shed more light on the molecular mechanisms of this process in trypanosomes and other eukaryotes. Author Summary is a member of a large group of flagellated protozoan parasites that threatens the lives and husbandry of millions of people worldwide. This group includes parasites that cause devastating diseases such as leishmaniasis (caused by different species of is a protozoan pathogen, which threatens thousands of people and kills millions of farm animals in sub-Saharan Africa [1]. In order to shuttle between different hosts, this parasite had to develop a complex life cycle, which includes two very different host environments: the vascular system and tissue fluids in the mammalian host and the intestinal tract and salivary glands of the vector, the tsetse fly. Many basic biological processes like motility, energy metabolism TG 100572 manufacture and morphology have to be adapted during several developmental differentiation events in order to survive and proliferate in these different environments (reviewed in [2,3]). Trypanosomes differentiate from the bloodstream form (BSF) in the mammalian host to the procyclic form (PF), which is adapted to live in the insect vector. Developmental differentiation in the mammalian host can be divided into two steps. First, proliferating bloodstream forms (called long slender, LS) differentiate into cell cycle-arrested bloodstream forms (called short stumpy, SS). Only the SS form is capable of differentiating efficiently to the PF that can resume proliferation in the fly. Interestingly, a form of quorum sensing pathway controls differentiation to the SS form. As parasitemia increases during the proliferation of slender LS, a parasite derived factor, so-called stumpy-induction factor (SIF), accumulates and promotes formation of SS forms, which arrest in G1/G0 phase of the cell cycle [4]. Although in general cell cycle arrest appears to be a prerequisite for differentiation to procyclic form, the link between cell cycle control and the differentiation process remains elusive. For example overexpression of the variant surface glycoprotein (VSG) in the long slender form causes only a G1 dormancy but initiates the slender-to-stumpy pathway in a reversible way [5]. Several components that might be associated with differentiation have been identified recently including kinases, phosphatases and components of a cAMP-signaling pathway ([6C8] reviewed in [8]). However, the consequences of these signaling events are largely unknown. Every step of the differentiation process involves coordinated changes of the parasite’s gene expression profiles to provide host specific surface proteins or to change metabolism, morphology and organelle activity. There has been substantial progress in understanding the differentiation process of trypanosomes after several groups analyzed changes in transcription profiles during this process ([9C10] reviewed in [11]). However, it has to be taken into account that trypanosomes regulate steady-state protein levels mainly by posttranscriptional mechanisms [12]. Recently, genome-wide comparative ribosome profiling confirmed the importance of translation efficiency to regulate protein abundance in two different life cycle TG 100572 manufacture stages of trypanosomes [13C14]. Because translation efficiency can vary up to 100-fold between individual genes, substantial differences in the level of ribosome-bound mRNAs for the same transcripts were detected in different life cycle stages. These experiments demonstrate that translational control regulates protein abundance to a similar extent as RNA stability. Hence, to understand the developmental differentiation of trypanosomes, it is necessary to analyze the proteome during differentiation. Comparison of steady-state proteomes of SS, LS and PF have TG 100572 manufacture already shed more TG 100572 manufacture light on the differences between these life cycle stages [15C18]. To fully understand the required dynamics of proteome remodeling during the differentiation process, we here used quantitative label-free proteomics to monitor changes in protein expression during transition from LS to SS form and subsequent synchronous differentiation to the PF form of the parasite. While our analysis suggests Rabbit Polyclonal to Cytochrome P450 2U1 previously unknown components of the differentiation machinery, we were also able to clarify the involvement of the histone methyltransferase DOT1B.