title: Characterization of a multi-copy gene for a major stage-specific cysteine proteinase of Leishmania mexicana.
abstract: lmcpb, a gene from Leishmania mexicana that encodes a major cysteine proteinase in the parasite, has been cloned and sequenced. LmCPb is related more to cysteine proteinases from Trypanosoma brucei and Trypanosoma cruzi than to a previously characterized cysteine proteinase, LmCPa, of L. mexicana. It contains a long C-terminal extension characteristic of similar enzymes of T. brucei and T. cruzi. The gene is multi-copy and tandemly arranged. lmcpb RNA levels are developmentally regulated with steady state levels being high in amastigotes, low in metacyclic promastigotes and undetectable in multiplicative promastigotes. This variation correlates with and may account for the stage-specific expression of LmCPb enzyme activity.
authors.affiliation: Wellcome Unit of Molecular Parasitology, University of Glasgow, Scotland, UK.
authors.forename: A E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Souza
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Waugh
authors.forename: G H
authors.initials: GH
authors.lastname: Coombs
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Mottram
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D003546:Cysteine Endopeptidases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D017125:Genes, Protozoan; D007894:Leishmania mexicana / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D005810:Multigene Family; D016366:Open Reading Frames; D015800:Protozoan Proteins; D016053:RNA, Protozoan / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D016415:Sequence Alignment
chemical_list: D015800:Protozoan Proteins; D016053:RNA, Protozoan; D003546:Cysteine Endopeptidases; C077125:LmCPb protein, Leishmania mexicana