title: Caspase-1 from the silkworm, Bombyx mori, is involved in Bombyx mori nucleopolyhedrovirus infection.
abstract: Caspase-1 is one of the effector caspases in mammals that plays a central role in apoptosis. However, the lepidopteran caspase-1, especially the Bombyx mori caspase-1 (Bm-caspase-1), has not been investigated in detail. In this study, Bm-caspase-1 was identified from an expressed sequence tag database in B. mori by BLAST search. The open reading frame of Bm-caspase-1 contained 879 nucleotides and encoded 293 amino acids with a predicted molecular mass of 33 kDa. Bm-caspase-1 contained two consensus amino acid motifs of caspase cleavage sites, DEGDA and TETDG. Caspase activity assays revealed significant proteolytic activity of the Ac-DEVD-pNA substrate. Bm-caspase-1 can be detected in all tissues and developmental stages by a semi quantitative polymerase chain reaction assay. More importantly, the expression level of Bm-caspase-1 is increased upon baculovirus infection and up-regulated in BmNPV-resistant silkworms. Taken together, these results indicate that Bm-caspase-1 plays an important role during baculovirus infection.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Life Sciences, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu, PR China.
authors.forename: Qiang
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, PR China.
authors.forename: Xiaoli
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Ju
authors.affiliation: Institute of Life Sciences, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu, PR China.
authors.forename: Liang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Institute of Life Sciences, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu, PR China.
authors.forename: Keping
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D020816:Amino Acid Motifs; D000818:Animals; D012831:Bombyx / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology; D020170:Caspase 1 / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D019476:Insect Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D007814:Larva / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology; D008970:Molecular Weight; D017924:Nucleopolyhedroviruses / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism; D016366:Open Reading Frames; D010802:Phylogeny; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
chemical_list: D019476:Insect Proteins; D020170:Caspase 1