Figure 4. Overexpression of Tc-eIF2αT¹⁶⁹A protects cells from inhibition of translation initiation during nutritional stress.

(A) Polysome profiles of parasites overexpressing the wild type eIF2α (OE WT; panels a–c) and mutant Tc-eIF2αT¹⁶⁹A (OE T¹⁶⁹A; panels d-f) grown in LIT medium (panels a and d) or maintained for 2 h in TAU (panels b and e) or for additional 2 h in TAU3AAG medium (panels c and f). The polysome/monosome ratio was determined by measuring the area of the polysome peaks and of the 80S peak using the ImageJ software (developed and maintained by the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD). For OE T¹⁶⁹A - TAU (panel e) the monosome/polysome ratio was obtained by extrapolation of the 80S area. Shown are representative profiles from three independent experiments.