title: Echinococcus granulosus: Cloning and Functional in Vitro Characterization of an Actin Filament Fragmenting Protein.
abstract: We report the isolation and characterization of an Echinococcus granulosus gene that codes for a protein with actin filament fragmenting and nucleating activities (EgAFFP). The genomic region corresponding to the EgAFFP gene presents a coding sequence of 1110 bp that is interrupted by eight introns. The EgAFFP deduced amino acid sequence is about 40% homologous to those of several members of the gelsolin family, such as Physarum polycephalum fragmin, Dictyostelium discoideum severin, and Lumbricus terrestris actin modulator. As do other proteins of the same family, EgAFFP presents three repeated domains, each one characterized by internal conserved amino acid motifs. Assays with fluorescence-labeled actin showed that the full-length recombinant EgAFFP effectively binds actin monomers in both a calcium-dependent and calcium-independent manner and also presents actin nucleating and severing activities.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Biologia Molecular e Biotecnologia
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cortez-Herrera
authors.forename: R R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Rodrigues
authors.forename: S E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Farias
authors.forename: H B
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: Ferreira
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zaha
mesh_terms: D000199:Actins / Q000378:metabolism*; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000737:chemistry; D004446:Echinococcus / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D015801:Helminth Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D012756:Sheep
chemical_list: C428029:AG8 protein, Echinococcus granulosus; D000199:Actins; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D015801:Helminth Proteins; D011994:Recombinant Proteins