title: Changes in salivary nitrophorin profile during the life cycle of the blood-sucking bug Rhodnius prolixus.
abstract: The insect Rhodnius prolixus is a hematophagous hemipteran that has five nymphal instars. Fifth instar nymphs contain, in their salivary glands, four nitrophorins which have already been described in the literature (NP1, NP2, NP3 and NP4). Two new hemeproteins were isolated and partially characterized from first instar nymphs. NP2, that shows an anticoagulant activity, was also identified, but NP1, NP3 and NP4 were not found. As these new hemeproteins have amino-terminal sequences clearly homologous to already described nitrophorins and were capable of binding nitric oxide, they were named nitrophorins 5 and 6, although they showed an unusual Soret band at 412 nm. In each subsequent nymphal stage, a new nitrophorin emerges. In the second instar, NP4 comes into view, in the third instar NP1 appears, and NP3 is only found in fifth instar nymphs and adults, showing that the nitrophorin profile of R. prolixus saliva is stage-specific.
authors.affiliation: Current address: Departamento de Bioquímica, Instituto de Química, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, 21941-590, RJ, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. monica@iq.ufrj.br
authors.forename: Mônica F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Moreira
authors.forename: Heloisa S L
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Coelho
authors.forename: Russolina B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Zingali
authors.forename: Pedro L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Oliveira
authors.forename: Hatisaburo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Masuda
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D002852:Chromatography, Ion Exchange; D006420:Hemeproteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D008018:Life Cycle Stages; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D012239:Rhodnius / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D012463:Saliva / Q000378:metabolism*; D012471:Salivary Proteins and Peptides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
chemical_list: D006420:Hemeproteins; D012471:Salivary Proteins and Peptides; C090560:nitrophorin