title: Identification and purification of a second form of Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase from Schistosoma mansoni.
abstract: Our laboratories previously isolated a putative extracellular or membrane-associated Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase (Cu/Zn-SOD) gene, designated a signal peptide-containing (SP) Cu/Zn-SOD, from Schistosoma mansoni. SOD activity was thus investigated throughout the life cycle of S. mansoni and found in all stages: eggs, miracidia, cercariae, schistosomula, lung-stage worms, and adult worms. The adult worms had the highest SOD activity (53 +/- 9 nitrite units), which was five times higher than that of eggs or miracidia and twice as high as that of 3-h-old mechanically transformed schistosomula. Cu/Zn-SOD constituted over 95% of the total SOD activity found in S. mansoni, compared with that of Mn-SOD. Most of Cu/Zn-SOD specific activity was associated with a detergent-extractable fraction of the parasite. Isoelectric focusing gel electrophoresis analysis revealed that there were four major pI variants of Cu/Zn-SOD present in the adult worms. Only two of these Cu/Zn-SOD pI variants were present in the 3-h-old mechanically transformed schistosomula. Fast protein liquid chromatography gel filtration fractionation of adult parasite extract was carried out to correlate the SP Cu/Zn-SOD with the SOD activity by using anti-SP Cu/Zn-SOD monoclonal antibodies, which separated the immunoreactive gene product and the SOD activity into different fractions. Quantitative tissue fractionation also revealed a discordant distribution of the gene product compared with that of Cu/Zn-SOD activity. These results indicated the existence of another Cu/Zn-SOD(s) in the parasite. Purification of the Cu/Zn-SOD activity from the adult worms showed that it represented the two lower-pI variants found in both adult worms and 3-h-old schistosomula. Peptide sequence analysis of the purified Cu/Zn-SOD confirmed that there is a second form of Cu/Zn-SOD in the parasite.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, State University of New York, Buffalo 14214.
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Kosman
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Thakur
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rekosh
authors.forename: P T
authors.initials: PT
authors.lastname: LoVerde
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000096:biosynthesis; D006224:Cricetinae; D007525:Isoelectric Focusing; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009928:Organ Specificity; D012550:Schistosoma mansoni / Q000201:enzymology*; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase / Q000032:analysis / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification*
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase