Gene expression and molecular modeling of the HSP104 chaperone of Trypanosoma cruzi
Heat shock protein (HSP) 104 is a highly conserved molecular chaperone that catalyzes protein unfolding, disaggregation and degradation under stress conditions. We characterized HSP104 gene structure and expression in Trypanosoma cruzi, a protozoan parasite that causes Chagas’ disease. The T. cruzi HSP104 is an 869 amino-acid protein encoded by a single-copy gene that has the highest sequence similarity (76%) with that of T. brucei and the lowest (23%) with that of the human protein.