a protozoan called trypanosoma brucei, carried by the tsetse fly, causes african sleeping sickness. one variable surface glycoprotein (vsg), or surface coat protein, dominates the trypanosome surface. the trypanosome genome encodes over 1000 different versions of vsgs. all of the cells in an initial infection feature the same vsg coat on their surfaces, and the immune system readily recognizes this protein as foreign. however, an individual trypanosome cell in the broader population will switch and randomly begin expressing a different variant of the vsg coat. all the descendants of that cell will have the new and different protein on their surface. as the population with the second vsg coat increases, an individual cell will then switch to a third vsg coat, and so on. how does expressing a different vsg allow t. brucei to evade the immune system?

Respuesta :

VSG can allow t. brucei to evade the immune system in two different ways:

Preventing immune system (innate/acquired) components from accessing invariant proteins on its surface and protecting parasites in the blood from complement system elimination.

Defenses of the host escaping

The innate system (low specificity) and the adaptive response are the two immune response mechanisms available to mammals (antigen-specific).

Avoiding a natural reaction

The initial line of defense against trypanosomes for animals is their innate immune system. Two serum human complexes known as trypanosome lytic factor, which contain apolipoprotein L1 and are endocytosed by the haptoglobinhemoglobin parasite surface receptor, can kill T. b. gambiense and T. b. rhodesiense. Both parasites produce certain proteins that offer them resilience to avoid being destroyed by APOL1.

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