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Peer-reviewedCC BY 4.0Molecular cell

Lineage-specific innovations expand mitochondrial proteomes in kinetoplastids

  • Andres F. Vacas1,2
  • Md Solayman1,2
  • Sarah E. Calvo3,4,5,6,2
  • Khanh Nguyen5
  • Cameron Genxuan Lian5
  • Keith D. Rivera5
  • Michael Z. Chen3,4,5,6
  • MitoCarta Tree of Life Consortium
  • Namrata D. Udeshi5
  • Vamsi K. Mootha3,4,5,6
  • Ruslan Aphasizhev1
  • Inna Aphasizheva1,7
7 affiliations
  1. 1Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, Boston University Medical Campus, Boston, MA 02118, USA
  2. 2These authors contributed equally
  3. 3Department of Molecular Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA
  4. 4Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
  5. 5Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA
  6. 6Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA
  7. 7Lead contact
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Abstract

SUMMARY: Trypanosoma brucei and Leishmania tarentolae are model kinetoplastids whose mitochondria contain a unique DNA network, kinetoplast DNA (kDNA), and exhibit specialized features, including developmental remodeling and RNA editing. By integrating mass spectrometry–based protein correlation profiling with published datasets, we assembled inventories of 1,666 mitochondrial proteins in T. brucei and 1,594 in L. tarentolae. These include 124 polypeptides not previously recognized as mitochondrial. Despite their phylogenetic distance, trypanosomes and leishmanias maintain highly conserved mitoproteomes, including about 700 components with no detectable homologs in other eukaryotes. Comparison of T. brucei insect and mammalian stages revealed similar mitoproteome compositions but globally reduced mitochondrial protein abundance in the latter, except for components of calcium homeostasis and the alternative oxidase pathway. We also detected ten kDNA-encoded proteins, including products of pan-edited transcripts. These inventories establish a framework for functional analysis of previously uncharacterized mitochondrial factors and illuminate innovations that have shaped kinetoplastid evolution.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{vacas2026lineagespecific,
  title = {{Lineage-specific innovations expand mitochondrial proteomes in kinetoplastids}},
  author = {Andres F. Vacas and Md Solayman and Sarah E. Calvo and Khanh Nguyen and Cameron Genxuan Lian and Keith D. Rivera and Michael Z. Chen and MitoCarta Tree of Life Consortium and Namrata D. Udeshi and Vamsi K. Mootha and Ruslan Aphasizhev and Inna Aphasizheva},
  journal = {Molecular cell},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.1016/j.molcel.2026.08.032},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molcel.2026.08.032},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Lineage-specific innovations expand mitochondrial proteomes in kinetoplastids
AU  - Andres F. Vacas
AU  - Md Solayman
AU  - Sarah E. Calvo
AU  - Khanh Nguyen
AU  - Cameron Genxuan Lian
AU  - Keith D. Rivera
AU  - Michael Z. Chen
AU  - MitoCarta Tree of Life Consortium
AU  - Namrata D. Udeshi
AU  - Vamsi K. Mootha
AU  - Ruslan Aphasizhev
AU  - Inna Aphasizheva
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/01
JO  - Molecular cell
DO  - 10.1016/j.molcel.2026.08.032
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molcel.2026.08.032
AB  - SUMMARY: Trypanosoma brucei and Leishmania tarentolae are model kinetoplastids whose mitochondria contain a unique DNA network, kinetoplast DNA (kDNA), and exhibit specialized features, including developmental remodeling and RNA editing. By integrating mass spectrometry–based protein correlation profiling with published datasets, we assembled inventories of 1,666 mitochondrial proteins in T. brucei and 1,594 in L. tarentolae. These include 124 polypeptides not previously recognized as mitochondrial. Despite their phylogenetic distance, trypanosomes and leishmanias maintain highly conserved mitoproteomes, including about 700 components with no detectable homologs in other eukaryotes. Comparison of T. brucei insect and mammalian stages revealed similar mitoproteome compositions but globally reduced mitochondrial protein abundance in the latter, except for components of calcium homeostasis and the alternative oxidase pathway. We also detected ten kDNA-encoded proteins, including products of pan-edited transcripts. These inventories establish a framework for functional analysis of previously uncharacterized mitochondrial factors and illuminate innovations that have shaped kinetoplastid evolution.
SN  - 1097-2765
SN  - 1097-4164
ER  -