Nadine Weisert

The periodic switching of the variant surface glycoprotein (VSG) protects Trypanosoma brucei from being eliminated by the host’s immune system. This immune evasion strategy is based on selective activation of one out of 15 telomeric transcription units from which the active VSG is transcribed. Telomere-binding proteins are known to regulate VSG transcription. However, only a few telomere-binding proteins have been described in trypanosomes. I want to identify the complete telomere protein complex in trypanosomes. I‘m interested in how telomere-binding proteins define the chromatin structure at the chromosome ends and how they influence antigenic variation.