CAP protein superfamily members in Toxocara canis.

Andreas J Stroehlein,Paul W Sternberg,Pasi K Korhonen,Neil D Young,Abdul Jabbar,Robin B Gasser,Ross S Hall,Andreas Hofmann

doi:10.1186/s13071-016-1642-y

Andreas J Stroehlein, Paul W Sternberg + Show 6 more

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https://doi.org/10.1186/s13071-016-1642-y

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Abstract

BackgroundProteins of the cysteine-rich secretory proteins, antigen 5 and pathogenesis-related 1 (CAP) superfamily are recognized or proposed to play roles in parasite development and reproduction, and in modulating host immune attack and infection processes. However, little is known about these proteins for most parasites.ResultsIn the present study, we explored CAP proteins of Toxocara canis, a socioeconomically important zoonotic roundworm. To do this, we mined and curated transcriptomic and genomic data, predicted and curated full-length protein sequences (n = 28), conducted analyses of these data and studied the transcription of respective genes in different developmental stages of T. canis. In addition, based on information available for Caenorhabditis elegans, we inferred that selected genes (including lon-1, vap-1, vap-2, scl-1, scl-8 and scl-11 orthologs) of T. canis and their interaction partners likely play central roles in this parasite’s development and/or reproduction via TGF-beta and/or insulin-like signaling pathways, or via host interactions.ConclusionIn conclusion, this study could provide a foundation to guide future studies of CAP proteins of T. canis and related parasites, and might assist in finding new interventions against diseases caused by these parasites.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13071-016-1642-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Highlights

Proteins of the cysteine-rich secretory proteins, antigen 5 and pathogenesis-related 1 (CAP) superfamily are recognized or proposed to play roles in parasite development and reproduction, and in modulating host immune attack and infection processes
CAP proteins encoded in T. canis and their features Homology-based profile/domain searches using InterProScan and manual sequence curation predicted 28 CAP protein sequences, which mapped to 23 genomic scaffolds (Additional file 1: Table S1)
Based on InterProScan analysis, 22 of the 28 predicted proteins belonged to the “cysteine-rich secretory protein, allergen V5/Tpx-1-related subfamily” (PTHR10334), of which 16 and 5 had the “allergen V5/Tpx-1 family” (PR00837) and “venom-allergen 5” (PR00838) signatures, respectively (Additional file 1: Table S1)

Summary

Introduction

Proteins of the cysteine-rich secretory proteins, antigen 5 and pathogenesis-related 1 (CAP) superfamily are recognized or proposed to play roles in parasite development and reproduction, and in modulating host immune attack and infection processes. Some excretory/secretory (ES) proteins from T. canis likely play key roles in these interactions and the infection process, supported, to some extent, by recent research showing abundant transcription of genes encoding peptidases, cell-adhesion molecules (including integrins and cadherins) and lectins (C-type) in parasitic stages of T. canis [7]. The cysteine-rich secretory proteins, antigen 5 and pathogenesis-related 1 (CAP) superfamily [8], defined based on sperm-coating protein (SCP)-like extracellular domains (InterProScan codes: IPR014044 and IPR001283), represents some ES molecules inferred from the genome of T. canis (cf [7]). In spite of the major socioeconomic importance of toxocariasis globally and some promise for CAP proteins as drug or vaccine targets (e.g. [9,10,11]), detailed information on this group of proteins in ascaridoids has been lacking

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