Glycosomal membrane proteins and lipids from Leishmania mexicana

Constituents of the glycosomal membrane from Leishmania mexicana should play a critical role in the coordination of metabolic processes occurring in the cytosol and those compartmentalized within glycosomes. We have made an inventory of glycosomal membrane-associated proteins using approaches specific for enriching both integral and peripheral membrane proteins. Surprisingly, 70% of the proteins were recovered in the hydrophobic fraction of membranes solubilized with Triton X-114, while 20% were present in the soluble fraction obtained upon treatment with Na2CO3. 14 major polypeptides, ranging in molecular weight from 65 to 16 kDa, were found to be associated with the membrane, nine of them behaving as integral membrane proteins. Assessment of their topology in the membrane indicated that the polypeptides of 56, 50, 46 and 32 kDa have no domains exposed to the cytosol. The 50 kDa protein is the most abundant one of the glycosomal membrane, where it is peripherically located at the matrix face. The major phospholipids of glycosomal membranes are phosphatidyl-ethanolamine, phosphatidyl-choline and phosphatidyl-serine, with smaller proportions of sphingomyelin and phosphatidyl-inositol. The sterols found were of 5-dehydroepisterol, ergosta-5,7,24(241)-trien-3β-ol, and also their precursors, consistent with the notion that these organelles are involved in de novo biosynthesis of sterols in trypanosomatids.