The dense variant surface glycoprotein (VSG) coat of African trypanosomes represents the primary host-pathogen interface. Antigenic variation prevents clearing of the pathogen by employing a large repertoire of antigenically distinct VSG genes, thus neutralizing the host's antibody response. To explore the epitope space of VSGs, we generate anti-VSG nanobodies and combine high-resolution structural analysis of VSG-nanobody complexes with binding assays on living cells, revealing that these camelid antibodies bind deeply inside the coat. One nanobody causes rapid loss of cellular motility, possibly due to blockage of VSG mobility on the coat, whose rapid endocytosis and exocytosis are mechanistically linked to Trypanosoma brucei propulsion and whose density is required for survival. Electron microscopy studies demonstrate that this loss of motility is accompanied by rapid formation and shedding of nanovesicles and nanotubes, suggesting that increased protein crowding on the dense membrane can be a driving force for membrane fission in living cells.
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 8. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 17 May 2023.
All research outputs
#5,781,450
of 30,066,744 outputs
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#9,171
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Outputs of similar age
#98,130
of 440,854 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Cell Reports
#242
of 366 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 30,066,744 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done well and is in the 80th percentile: it's in the top 25% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 15,718 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 27.7. This one is in the 41st percentile – i.e., 41% of its peers scored the same or lower than it.
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We're also able to compare this research output to 366 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one is in the 33rd percentile – i.e., 33% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.
