Tigutcystatin, a cysteine protease inhibitor from Triatoma infestans midgut expressed in response to Trypanosoma cruzi.

The insect Triatoma infestans is a vector of Trypanosoma cruzi, the etiological agent of Chagas disease. A cDNA library was constructed from T. infestans anterior midgut, and 244 clones were sequenced. Among the EST sequences, an open reading frame (ORF) with homology to a cystatin type 2 precursor was identified. Then, a 288-bp cDNA fragment encoding mature cystatin (lacking signal peptide) named Tigutcystatin was cloned fused to a N-terminal His tag in pET-14b vector, and the protein expressed in Escherichia coli strain Rosetta gami. Tigutcystatin purified and cleaved by thrombin to remove His tag presented molecular mass of 11 kDa and 10,137 Da by SDS-PAGE and MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry, respectively. Purified Tigutcystatin was shown to be a tight inhibitor towards cruzain, a T. cruzi cathepsin L-like enzyme (K(i)=3.29 nM) and human cathepsin L (K(i)=3.78 nM). Tissue specific expression analysis showed that Tigutcystatin was mostly expressed in anterior midgut, although amplification in small intestine was also detected by semi quantitative RT-PCR. qReal time PCR confirmed that Tigutcystatin mRNA is significantly up-regulated in anterior midgut when T. infestans is infected with T. cruzi. Together, these results indicate that Tigutcystatin may be involved in modulation of T. cruzi in intestinal tract by inhibiting parasite cysteine proteases, which represent the virulence factors of this protozoan.

Overexpression of the natural inhibitor of cysteine peptidases in Leishmania mexicana leads to reduced virulence and a Th1 response.

Leishmania mexicana cysteine peptidases (CPs) have been identified as important parasite virulence factors. More recently, a natural inhibitor of CPs (ICP) from L. mexicana has been characterized, and ICP mutants have been created. Infection of BALB/c mice with ICP null mutants or ICP reexpressing mutants resulted in nonhealing, progressively growing lesions albeit slightly attenuated compared with the growth of lesions produced by wild-type parasites. In contrast, BALB/c mice infected with mutants overexpressing ICP were able to significantly control lesion growth or heal. While BALB/c mice infected with wild-type parasites, ICP null mutants, or ICP reexpressing mutants produced significant antibody responses, including immunoglobulin E (IgE), no Th1 response, as indicated by antigen-induced splenocyte gamma interferon (IFN-gamma) production, could be demonstrated. In contrast, BALB/c mice infected with mutants overexpressing ICP produced significantly less antibody, particularly IgE, as well as significantly reduced splenocyte interleukin-4 and enhanced IFN-gamma production. BALB/c mice were able to resolve infection following infection with one ICP overexpressing clone, which was subsequently used for vaccination studies with BALB/c mice. However, no protection was afforded these mice when they were challenged with wild-type parasites. Nevertheless, two other mouse strains susceptible to L. mexicana, C3H and C57BL/6, vaccinated with overexpressing ICP mutants were able to control challenge infection associated with an enhanced Th1 response. This study confirms that L. mexicana CPs are virulence factors and that ICPs have therapeutic potential.

Identification, characterization and localization of chagasin, a tight-binding cysteine protease inhibitor in Trypanosoma cruzi.

Lysosomal cysteine proteases from mammalian cells and plants are regulated by endogenous tight-binding inhibitors from the cystatin superfamily. The presence of cystatin-like inhibitors in lower eukaryotes such as protozoan parasites has not yet been demonstrated, although these cells express large quantities of cysteine proteases and may also count on endogenous inhibitors to regulate cellular proteolysis. Trypanosoma cruzi, the causative agent of Chagas' heart disease, is a relevant model to explore this possibility because these intracellular parasites rely on their major lysosomal cysteine protease (cruzipain) to invade and multiply in mammalian host cells. Here we report the isolation, biochemical characterization, developmental stage distribution and subcellular localization of chagasin, an endogenous cysteine protease inhibitor in T. cruzi. We used high temperature induced denaturation to isolate a heat-stable cruzipain-binding protein (apparent molecular mass, 12 kDa) from epimastigote lysates. This protein was subsequently characterized as a tight-binding and reversible inhibitor of papain-like cysteine proteases. Immunoblotting indicated that the expression of chagasin is developmentally regulated and inversely correlated with that of cruzipain. Gold-labeled antibodies localized chagasin to the flagellar pocket and cytoplasmic vesicles of trypomastigotes and to the cell surface of amastigotes. Binding assays performed by probing living parasites with fluorescein (FITC)-cruzipain or FITC-chagasin revealed the presence of both inhibitor and protease at the cell surface of amastigotes. The intersection of chagasin and cruzipain trafficking pathways may represent a checkpoint for downstream regulation of proteolysis in trypanosomatid protozoa.