The Kinetoplast of Trypanosomatids: From Early Studies of Electron Microscopy to Recent Advances in Atomic Force Microscopy

The kinetoplast is a specialized region of the mitochondria of trypanosomatids that harbors the most complex and unusual mitochondrial DNA found in nature. Kinetoplast DNA (kDNA) is composed of thousands of circular molecules topologically interlocked to form a single network. Two types of DNA circl...

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Main Authors: Danielle Pereira Cavalcanti, Wanderley de Souza
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Hindawi-Wiley 2018-01-01
Series:Scanning
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2018/9603051
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spelling doaj-27814852f444479c8ec7cb82e7a9e2e32020-11-25T00:30:59ZengHindawi-WileyScanning0161-04571932-87452018-01-01201810.1155/2018/96030519603051The Kinetoplast of Trypanosomatids: From Early Studies of Electron Microscopy to Recent Advances in Atomic Force MicroscopyDanielle Pereira Cavalcanti0Wanderley de Souza1Laboratório de Microbiologia, Diretoria de Metrologia Aplicada às Ciências da Vida, Instituto Nacional de Metrologia, Qualidade e Tecnologia-Inmetro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, BrazilInstituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia de Biologia Estrutural e Bioimagem and Centro Nacional de Biologia Estrutural e Bioimagem (CENABIO), Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, BrazilThe kinetoplast is a specialized region of the mitochondria of trypanosomatids that harbors the most complex and unusual mitochondrial DNA found in nature. Kinetoplast DNA (kDNA) is composed of thousands of circular molecules topologically interlocked to form a single network. Two types of DNA circles are present in the kinetoplast: minicircles (0.5–10 kb) and maxicircles (20–40 kb). Knowledge of kinetoplast architecture is crucial to understanding the replication and segregation of kDNA circles because the molecules involved in these processes are precisely positioned in functional domains throughout the kinetoplast. The fine structure of the kinetoplast was revealed in early electron microscopy (EM) studies. However, an understanding of the topological organization of kDNA was only demonstrated after the development of protocols to separate kDNA from nuclear DNA, followed by EM observations. Electron microscopy analysis of thin sections of trypanosomatids, spreading of isolated kDNA networks onto EM grids, deep-etching studies, and cytochemical and immunocytochemical approaches are examples of techniques that were useful for elucidating the structure and replication of the kinetoplast. Recently, atomic force microscopy has joined this set of techniques and improved our knowledge about the kDNA network and revealed new details about kDNA topology in trypanosomatids.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2018/9603051
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Danielle Pereira Cavalcanti
Wanderley de Souza
spellingShingle Danielle Pereira Cavalcanti
Wanderley de Souza
The Kinetoplast of Trypanosomatids: From Early Studies of Electron Microscopy to Recent Advances in Atomic Force Microscopy
Scanning
author_facet Danielle Pereira Cavalcanti
Wanderley de Souza
author_sort Danielle Pereira Cavalcanti
title The Kinetoplast of Trypanosomatids: From Early Studies of Electron Microscopy to Recent Advances in Atomic Force Microscopy
title_short The Kinetoplast of Trypanosomatids: From Early Studies of Electron Microscopy to Recent Advances in Atomic Force Microscopy
title_full The Kinetoplast of Trypanosomatids: From Early Studies of Electron Microscopy to Recent Advances in Atomic Force Microscopy
title_fullStr The Kinetoplast of Trypanosomatids: From Early Studies of Electron Microscopy to Recent Advances in Atomic Force Microscopy
title_full_unstemmed The Kinetoplast of Trypanosomatids: From Early Studies of Electron Microscopy to Recent Advances in Atomic Force Microscopy
title_sort kinetoplast of trypanosomatids: from early studies of electron microscopy to recent advances in atomic force microscopy
publisher Hindawi-Wiley
series Scanning
issn 0161-0457
1932-8745
publishDate 2018-01-01
description The kinetoplast is a specialized region of the mitochondria of trypanosomatids that harbors the most complex and unusual mitochondrial DNA found in nature. Kinetoplast DNA (kDNA) is composed of thousands of circular molecules topologically interlocked to form a single network. Two types of DNA circles are present in the kinetoplast: minicircles (0.5–10 kb) and maxicircles (20–40 kb). Knowledge of kinetoplast architecture is crucial to understanding the replication and segregation of kDNA circles because the molecules involved in these processes are precisely positioned in functional domains throughout the kinetoplast. The fine structure of the kinetoplast was revealed in early electron microscopy (EM) studies. However, an understanding of the topological organization of kDNA was only demonstrated after the development of protocols to separate kDNA from nuclear DNA, followed by EM observations. Electron microscopy analysis of thin sections of trypanosomatids, spreading of isolated kDNA networks onto EM grids, deep-etching studies, and cytochemical and immunocytochemical approaches are examples of techniques that were useful for elucidating the structure and replication of the kinetoplast. Recently, atomic force microscopy has joined this set of techniques and improved our knowledge about the kDNA network and revealed new details about kDNA topology in trypanosomatids.
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2018/9603051
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