Abstract

Author summary Trypanosoma cruzi DNA polymerase beta (Tcpol beta) can be phosphorylated in vivo and this modification potentiates the DNA synthesis activity of the enzyme, which is involved in the DNA base excision repair (BER) system and kDNA replication. However, the protein kinases involved in this process have not been identified yet. In this work, we identified three protein kinases involved in Tcpol beta in vitro phosphorylation: CK1, CK2 and TcAUK1. The protein kinase activity of each enzyme was inhibited using specific pharmacological inhibitors. The phosphorylation event on Tcpol beta by the identified protein kinases increases its polymerizing DNA activity and this modification might be important for in vivo TcPol beta function.