title: Dirofilaria immitis superoxide dismutase: purification and characterization.
abstract: Superoxide dismutase (SOD) was purified to apparent homogeneity from Dirofilaria immitis, the causative agent of Dog Heartworm disease which is prevalent in the Southeastern United States. The enzyme has a molecular weight of 18,000 under denaturing conditions with an isoelectric point of 5.6. Both values are similar to those found for previously purified helminth SODs. The amino acid analysis shows greater similarity with mammalian SODs than with the published Schistosoma mansoni SOD, probably because the S. mansoni enzyme appears to be an extracellular, not a cytosolic, SOD. Although SOD activity is easily detected in D. immitis homogenates, the hydrogen peroxide scavenging activities of catalase and glutathione peroxidase were below the limits of our assay. This suggests that D. immitis primary defense against oxidants may be SOD. We feel that this line of research may provide valuable insights into a vulnerable area of D. immitis that may be a good target for drug therapy.
authors.affiliation: Medical University of South Carolina, Storm Eye Institute, Charleston.
authors.forename: H L
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Callahan
authors.forename: R K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Crouch
authors.forename: E R
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: James
mesh_terms: D000596:Amino Acids / Q000032:analysis; D000818:Animals; D004183:Dirofilaria immitis / Q000201:enzymology*; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000596:Amino Acids; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase