# Mechanisms Of The Unusual Cytokinesis In Trypanosomes

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS HLTH SCI CTR HOUSTON · 2022 · $542,373

## Abstract

Project Summary
 Cytokinesis is the final stage of cell division, and is regulated by an evolutionarily conserved signaling
pathway in eukaryotic organisms ranging from yeast to humans. Trypanosoma brucei, a parasitic protozoan
and causative agent of human sleeping sickness, undergoes a distinct mode of cytokinesis by dividing along
the longitudinal cell axes uni-directionally from the anterior end of the new-flagellum daughter cell towards the
nascent posterior end of the old-flagellum daughter cell. T. brucei adopts a cytokinesis signaling pathway that
is totally different from its human host; therefore, cytokinesis can be exploited as a drug target for combating
this dreadful human pathogen. Despite the identification and the functional characterization of multiple
cytokinesis regulators, the functional interplay and the order of action among these regulators remain poorly
understood. Moreover, it remains also unclear how cleavage furrow ingression is initiated and regulated and
whether these identified cytokinesis regulators cooperate with certain cytoskeletal proteins at the cleavage
furrow to promote furrow ingression. The current proposal is built on the recently discovered cytokinesis
regulatory pathway, and aims to determine the functional interplay among known cytokinesis regulators and to
explore the mechanistic roles of kinesin proteins in promoting cytokinesis initiation and progression. In specific
Aim 1, we plan to carry out a systematic analysis of the functional interplay among the cytokinesis regulatory
proteins before and during cytokinesis. In Aim 2, we plan to dissect the function of a kinesin-13 family protein in
regulating cytokinesis initiation and integrate this kinesin into the existing cytokinesis regulatory pathway. In
Aim 3, we plan to investigate the mechanistic role of KLIF-associated cytoskeletal proteins and to explore their
functional interplay with KLIF and other cytokinesis regulators in driving cleavage furrow ingression. These
studies will facilitate the understanding of the molecular mechanism underlying the unusual mode of
cytokinesis in T. brucei, and the outcomes from these investigations may provide new targets for
chemotherapeutic intervention.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10440902
- **Project number:** 2R01AI101437-10
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS HLTH SCI CTR HOUSTON
- **Principal Investigator:** Ziyin Li
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $542,373
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** 2013-06-06 → 2027-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10440902

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10440902, Mechanisms Of The Unusual Cytokinesis In Trypanosomes (2R01AI101437-10). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-21 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10440902. Licensed CC0.

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