Cuticlin genes of nematodes

Abstract

CUTICLIN GENES OF NEMATODESLEWIS E.*, SEBASTIANO M.*, NOLA M.*, ZEI F.*, LASSANDRO F.*, RISTORATORE F.,* CERMOLA M.*, FAVRE R.* AND BAZZICALUPO P.* KEYWORDS : parasitic nematodes, cuticle, cuticlin. dityrosine. cross-linking. SUMMARYTwo genes coding for cuticlin components of Caenorhabditis elegans have been cloned and their structure is described. Recombinant pro teins have been produced in E. coli and antibodies raised against them. Nucleic acid and specific antibodies are being used to isolate the homologues from the parasitic species Ascaris lumbricoides and Brugia pahangi.T he nematode cuticle protects the animal, serves as an exoskeleton and provides the surface over which inter actions with the external environment occur. In the case of parasitic nematodes the external environment is the host and, as such, antigens expressed on/in the cuticle are within reach of both the humoral and cellular components of the immune system. The cuticle is a layered structure, the components of which are classified according to their solubility : lipids, some proteins and other readily soluble, non-structural components are mostly localized on the sur face but are also distributed to a lesser extent throughout the lower layers of the cuticle ; the collagens make up the structural bulk of the cuticle, are coded for by a large and relatively well-characterized gene family, are not exposed on the cuticle surface and can be solubilized with SDS and mercaptoethanol ; and finally there is a highly cross-linked, insoluble and complex mixture of proteins present throu ghout the cuticle and known as the cuticlins. Up until now it has been virtually impossible to determine the roles and importance of the cuticlins because their insolubility does not allow either molecular or biochemical analysis of indivi dual proteins.

Genome of the Giant Panda Roundworm Illuminates Its Host Shift and Parasitic Adaptation

“…Cuticlin is another structural component of the cuticle. It is abundant in the outermost cortical layers and hypothesized to be enzymatically polymerized to constrict the seam cell-derived cuticle and thereby form the distinctive cuticular alae in C. elegans [25] , [26] , [29] . In this study, we identified 158 gene copies encoding cuticle collagens, and each expressed product contained a nematode cuticle collagen N-terminal domain and/or collagen triple helix repeats (n = 20) ( Figure 4 ; Table S24 ).…”

Ascaris spp antigens

“…One of the main constitutive and highly cross-linked and insoluble proteins is cuticlin-1, which is a potent inducer of antibody production [65] and probably it has to be continuously renewed. It is found in pseudocolemic fluid and its genes increase its expression before each moult [66]. Cuticular collagen 12 and 13 are the essential components of the Ascaris envelope [13].…”

Molecular Evolutionary Analysis of Nematode Zona Pellucida (ZP) Modules Reveals Disulfide-Bond Reshuffling and Standalone ZP-C Domains

“…However, the majority of ZPD proteins in C. elegans are simply annotated as CUT-like or CUTL proteins and little is known about their biology. Not surprisingly, even less is known about ZPD protein biology in nematodes beyond C. elegans , though it has been suggested that study of cuticlin proteins may aid efforts to pharmacologically attack the cuticles of nematodes that parasitize humans, livestock, and crops ( Lewis et al. 1994 ; Ondrovics et al.…”