Abstract
BackgroundParasite peptidases have been actively studied as vaccine candidates or drug targets for prevention or treatment of parasitic diseases because of their important roles for survival and/or invasion in the host. Like other parasites, the facultative histophagous ciliate Miamiensis avidus would possess peptidases that are closely associated with the invasion into the host tissue and survival in the host.ResultsThe 17 genes encoding peptidases, including seven cathepsin-like cysteine peptidases, four serine carboxypeptidases, a eukaryotic aspartyl protease family protein, an ATP-dependent metalloprotease FtsH family protein, three leishmanolysin family proteins and a peptidase family M49 protein were identified from a Miamiensis avidus cDNA library by BLAST X search. Expression of genes encoding two cysteine peptidases, three leishmanolysin-like peptidases and a peptidase family M49 protein was up-regulated in the cell-fed ciliates compared to the starved ciliates. Especially, one cysteine peptidase (MaPro 4) and one leishmanolysin-like peptidase (MaPro 14) were transcribed more than 100-folds in the cell-fed ciliates.ConclusionsThe genetic information and transcriptional characteristics of the peptidases in the present results would be helpful to elucidate the role of peptidases in the invasion of scuticociliates into their hosts.
Highlights
Parasite peptidases have been actively studied as vaccine candidates or drug targets for prevention or treatment of parasitic diseases because of their important roles for survival and/or invasion in the host
In the facultative histophagous Miamiensis avidus (= synonym of Philasterides dicentrarchi), which causes high mortality in cultured olive flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus) in Korea [6,7], peptidases might play important roles in the process of transforming of the ciliates from the free-living form into the invasive, infectious form, which might make the peptidases as candidates for vaccine antigen or treatment drug target
To obtain cell-fed ciliates, ciliates were inoculated in sufficiently grown Chinook salmon embryo (CHSE)-214 cells in routine MEM supplemented with 10% heat-inactivated fetal bovine serum (FBS) or in sufficiently grown CHSE-214 cells in filtered seawater supplemented with 10% heatinactivated FBS or were intraperitoneally injected into olive flounder
Summary
Parasite peptidases have been actively studied as vaccine candidates or drug targets for prevention or treatment of parasitic diseases because of their important roles for survival and/or invasion in the host. In many protozoan parasites that cause malaria, trypanosomiasis, leishmaniasis, amebiasis, toxoplasmosis, giardiasis, cryptosporidiosis, and trichomoniasis, the major roles of parasite peptidases include invasion by degradation of host cells and tissues, degradation of mediators of the immune responses, and the catabolism of host proteins for parasite growth and survival [1,2,3,4,5]. In the facultative histophagous Miamiensis avidus (= synonym of Philasterides dicentrarchi), which causes high mortality in cultured olive flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus) in Korea [6,7], peptidases might play important roles in the process of transforming of the ciliates from the free-living form into the invasive, infectious form, which might make the peptidases as candidates for vaccine antigen or treatment drug target. The purpose of this study was to identify peptidase genes that are expected to have features related to infection of M. avidus by comparison of expression level between the cell-fed and the starved ciliates
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