A highly conserved, inhibitable astacin metalloprotease from Teladorsagia circumcincta is required for cuticle formation and nematode development.

ABSTRACT: Parasitic nematodes cause chronic, debilitating infections in both livestock and humans worldwide, and many have developed multiple resistance to the currently available anthelmintics. The protective collagenous cuticle of these parasites is required for nematode survival and its synthesis has been studied extensively in the free-living nematode, Caenorhabditis elegans. The collagen synthesis pathway is a complex, multi-step process involving numerous key enzymes, including the astacin metalloproteases. Nematode astacinsare crucial for C. elegans development, having specific roles in hatching, moulting and cuticle synthesis. NAS-35 (also called DPY-31) is a homologue of a vertebrate procollagen C-proteinase and performs a central role in cuticle formation of C. elegans as its mutation caus

SUBMITTER: Stepek G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4406453 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature