Helminth pathogen cathepsin proteases: it's a family affair.
Helminth pathogens express papain-like cysteine peptidases, termed cathepsins, which have important roles in virulence, including host entry, tissue migration and the suppression of host immune responses. The liver fluke Fasciola hepatica, an emerging human pathogen, expresses the largest cathepsin L cysteine protease family yet described. Recent phylogenetic, biochemical and structural studies indicate that this family contains five separate clades, which exhibit overlapping but distinct substrate specificities created by a process of gene duplication followed by subtle residue divergence within the protease active site. The developmentally regulated expression of these proteases correlates with the passage of the parasite through host tissues and its encounters with different host macromolecules.
Institute for the Biotechnology of Infectious Diseases, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, Sydney, NSW, Australia. mark.robinson@uts.edu.au
Mark W
MW
Robinson
John P
JP
Dalton
Sheila
S
Donnelly
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D002403:Cathepsins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D003546:Cysteine Endopeptidases / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D005210:Fasciola hepatica / Q000201:enzymology*; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D015801:Helminth Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D006376:Helminths / Q000201:enzymology; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D013379:Substrate Specificity
D015801:Helminth Proteins; D002403:Cathepsins; C086102:cat-L1B protein, Fasciola gigantica; D003546:Cysteine Endopeptidases