title: Detection of anti-oxidant enzymatic activities and purification of glutathione transferases from Angiostrongylus cantonensis.
abstract: There are several anti-oxidant enzyme families that play pivotal roles in facilitating the survival of parasites. Glutathione transferases (GSTs) are members of the anti-oxidant family that can detoxify a broad range of exogenous or endogenous compounds including reactive oxidative species. GSTs have been studied as vaccine candidates, immunodiagnostic markers and as treatment targets. Helminths of the genus Angiostrongylus live inside arteries of vertebrates and two main species are associated with accidental human infections: Angiostrongylus costaricensis adult worms live inside the mesenteric arteries and larvae of Angiostrongylus cantonensis become trapped in the central nervous system vasculature. Since the interactions between angiostrongylid nematodes and their vertebrate hosts are poorly understood, this study characterized the anti-oxidant enzymatic activities of A. cantonensis from female worms by collecting excreted and secreted (ES) and total extract (TE) molecules. Catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities were found both in the ES and TE while glutathione peroxidase (GPX) and GST were found only in the TE. GSTs were purified by glutathione agarose affinity column (AcGST) and the pool of eluted GSTs was analyzed by mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) and de novo sequencing (Masslynx software). Sequences from two peptides (AcGSTpep1 and AcGSTpep2) present high identity to the N-terminal and C-terminal from sigma class GSTs of nematodes. It is known that these GST enzymes are associated with host immune regulation. Furthermore, understanding the role of parasite-derived anti-oxidant molecules is important in understanding host-parasite interactions.
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Biologia Parasitária da Faculdade de Biociências e Laboratório de Parasitologia Molecular do Instituto de Pesquisas Biomédicas da Pontifícia Universidade do Rio Grande do Sul, Av Ipiranga 6690, 90690-900 Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Alessandra L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Morassutti
authors.forename: Paulo M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Pinto
authors.forename: Bibiana K
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Dutra
authors.forename: Guendalina Turcato
authors.initials: GT
authors.lastname: Oliveira
authors.forename: Henrique B
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: Ferreira
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Graeff-Teixeira
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D017185:Angiostrongylus cantonensis / Q000201:enzymology*; D000818:Animals; D002374:Catalase / Q000032:analysis; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D005979:Glutathione Peroxidase / Q000032:analysis; D005982:Glutathione Transferase / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D019032:Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D002374:Catalase; D005979:Glutathione Peroxidase; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase; D005982:Glutathione Transferase