Luísa M. Figueiredo

A platform for robust quantitative functional genomics reveals temporal fitness landscapes in African trypanosomes

DRiF-Seq, a sequencing-optimized RNAi platform with a posteriori noise estimation, quantifies clone-resolved fitness genome-wide in pleomorphic Trypanosoma brucei; over half of core genes carry fitness costs.

Glycerol metabolism triggers trypanosome differentiation into transmissible forms in mammalian tissue-like conditions

This study identifies glycerol as a trigger for Trypanosoma brucei differentiation into transmissible forms under tissue-like conditions, challenging the traditional bloodstream model of transmission.

ZNK1 senses zinc and degrades zinc transporter mRNA in trypanosomes

This paper identifies ZNK1 as a zinc-sensing RNA-binding protein in trypanosomes that degrades ZIP3 mRNA in response to zinc availability.

Cell motility influences microfluidics capturing in scRNA-seq

This study shows that cooling motile Trypanosoma brucei parasites before scRNA-seq improves encapsulation efficiency and reduces transcriptomic bias.

m6A landscape is more pervasive when Trypanosoma brucei exits the cell cycle

This study identifies stage-specific m6A methylation patterns in Trypanosoma brucei across its life cycle, showing increased prevalence in the quiescent stumpy form.

N6-methyladenosine in poly(A) tails stabilize VSG transcripts

The paper identifies N6-methyladenosine in poly(A) tails of VSG transcripts in Trypanosoma brucei, showing it regulates mRNA stability through a cis-acting motif.