A novel type 1 cystatin involved in the regulation of Rhipicephalus microplus midgut cysteine proteases

Autor(es)

Lu, Stephen ^[1] ; da Rocha, Leticia A. ^[1] ; Torquato, Ricardo J. S. ^[1] ; Vaz Junior, Itabajara da Silva ^{[2, 3, 4]} ; Florin-Christensen, Monica ^{[5, 6]} ; Tanaka, Aparecida S. ^{[1, 4]}

Afiliação do(s) autor(es)

^[1] Univ Fed Sao Paulo UNIFESP, Dept Biochem, Escola Paulista Med, Sao Paulo, SP - Brazil

^[2] Univ Fed Rio Grande do Sul, Ctr Biotecnol, Porto Alegre, RS - Brazil

^[3] Univ Fed Rio Grande do Sul, Fac Vet, Porto Alegre, RS - Brazil

^[4] Inst Nacl Ciencia & Tecnol Entomol Mol INCT Em, Rio de Janeiro, RJ - Brazil

^[5] Consejo Nacl Invest Cient & Tecn, C1033AAJ, Buenos Aires, DF - Argentina

^[6] Ctr Invest Ciencias Vet & Agron CICVyA, Inst Patobiol Vet, INTA Castelar, Los Reseros & Nicolas Repetto S-N, RA-1686 Hurlingham - Argentina

• Tipo de documento: Artigo Científico
• Fonte: TICKS AND TICK-BORNE DISEASES; v. 11, n. 3 MAY 2020.
• Citações Web of Science: 0

Resumo

Rhipicephalus microplus is a cattle ectoparasite found in tropical and subtropical regions around the world with great impact on livestock production. R. microplus can also harbor pathogens, such as Babesia sp. and Anaplasma sp. which further compromise cattle production. Blood meal acquisition and digestion are key steps for tick development. In ticks, digestion takes place inside midgut cells and is mediated by aspartic and cysteine peptidases and, therefore, regulated by their inhibitors. Cystatins are a family of cysteine peptidases inhibitors found in several organisms and have been associated in ticks with blood acquisition, blood digestion, modulation of host immune response and tick immunity. In this work, we characterized a novel R. microplus type 1 cystatin, named Rmcystatin-1b. The inhibitor transcripts were found to be highly expressed in the midgut of partially and fully engorged females and they appear to be modulated at different days post-detachment. Purified recombinant Rmcystatin-lb displayed inhibitory activity towards typical cysteine peptidases with high affinity. Moreover, rRmcystatin-1b was able to inhibit native R. microplus cysteine peptidases and RNAi-mediated knockdown of the cystatin transcripts resulted in increased proteolytic activity. Moreover, rRmcystatin-1b was able to interfere with B. bovis growth in vitro. Taken together our data strongly suggest that Rmcystatin-1b is a regulator of blood digestion in R. microplus midgut. (AU)

• Processo FAPESP: 15/09268-1 - Caracterização de duas proteases do parasita Babesia bovis: importância na infecção de seus hospedeiros.
• Beneficiário: Stephen Lu
• Modalidade de apoio: Bolsas no Brasil - Doutorado
• Processo FAPESP: 12/03657-8 - Inibidores e proteases de ectoparasitas: relação de estrutura-função e identificação do papel dessas moléculas na interação de vetores de doenças e seus agentes etiológicos
• Beneficiário: Aparecida Sadae Tanaka
• Modalidade de apoio: Auxílio à Pesquisa - Temático
• Processo FAPESP: 17/25609-9 - Caracterização funcional de duas proteases de Babesia bovis e sua importância durante a infecção
• Beneficiário: Stephen Lu
• Modalidade de apoio: Bolsas no Exterior - Estágio de Pesquisa - Doutorado