title: Identification and characterization of a cathepsin L-like cysteine protease from Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) annulatus.
abstract: The tick Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) annulatus is one of the most important ectoparasites of bovines and is responsible for the transmission of different pathogens such as Babesia and Anaplasma. Cysteine proteases are involved in several host-tick interactions including invasion of host tissues, immune evasion, pathogen transmission, embryogenesis and blood digestion. In this study, the gene encoding R. annulatus cathepsin L-like enzyme (RaCL1) was cloned into pTZ57R/T vector, sequenced and analyzed using bioinformatics approaches. The nucleotide length of RaCL1 was 999 bp. Bioinformatics analysis showed 332 amino acids with an approximate molecular weight of 36.3 kDa which contained a signal peptide sequence (18 amino acids), pro-region (97 amino acids) and mature enzyme (217 amino acids). Multiple sequence alignment of the RaCL1 revealed high similarity to cathepsin L-like cysteine proteases from other tick species such as Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus and Amblyomma variegatum. Based on bioinformatics analyses, results of this work suggest that RaCL1 can be a suitable candidate for the development of vaccine against R. annulatus.
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran. shahin.saydi1366@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Shahin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Saidi
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran. nabian@ut.ac.ir.|Iranian Research Center for Tick and Tick-borne Diseases, Tehran, Iran. nabian@ut.ac.ir.
authors.forename: Sedighe
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nabian
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran. eebrahimzade@ut.ac.ir.
authors.forename: Elahe
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ebrahimzade
authors.affiliation: Molecular Biology Research Center, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. najafi74@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Najafi
authors.affiliation: Applied Biotechnology Research Center, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. mm.genetics@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Mehrdad Moosazadeh
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Moghaddam
authors.affiliation: Department of Agriculture, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran. alireza_sazmand@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Alireza
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8450-2993
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sazmand
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology, Institute of Science, High Technology and Environmental Science, Graduate University of Advanced Technology, Kerman, Iran. mtmahani@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Masoud
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Torkzadeh-Mahani
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran. saeed_satari@ut.ac.ir.
authors.forename: Saeed Sattari
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Tabrizi
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D056668:Cathepsin L / Q000737:chemistry; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D057056:Cysteine Proteases / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000378:metabolism; D017344:Genes, Insect; D007492:Iran; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D048494:Rhipicephalus / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics; D016415:Sequence Alignment
chemical_list: D057056:Cysteine Proteases; D056668:Cathepsin L
keywords: Bioinformatics; Cathepsin L; Cysteine protease; Gene expression; Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) annulatus; cDNA