Structural and biochemical characterization of the novel serpin Iripin-5 from Ixodes ricinus.

Iripin-5 is the main Ixodes ricinus salivary serpin, which acts as a modulator of host defence mechanisms by impairing neutrophil migration, suppressing nitric oxide production by macrophages and altering complement functions. Iripin-5 influences host immunity and shows high expression in the salivary glands. Here, the crystal structure of Iripin-5 in the most thermodynamically stable state of serpins is described. In the reactive-centre loop, the main substrate-recognition site of Iripin-5 is likely to be represented by Arg342, which implies the targeting of trypsin-like proteases. Furthermore, a computational structural analysis of selected Iripin-5-protease complexes together with interface analysis revealed the most probable residues of Iripin-5 involved in complex formation.

Induction and Analysis of Oxidative Stress in Sleeping Beauty Transposon-Transfected Human Retinal Pigment Epithelial Cells.

Oxidative stress plays a critical role in several degenerative diseases, including age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a pathology that affects ~30 million patients worldwide. It leads to a decrease in retinal pigment epithelium (RPE)-synthesized neuroprotective factors, e.g., pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF) and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), followed by the loss of RPE cells, and eventually photoreceptor and retinal ganglion cell (RGC) death. We hypothesize that the reconstitution of the neuroprotective and neurogenic retinal environment by the subretinal transplantation of transfected RPE cells overexpressing PEDF and GM-CSF has the potential to prevent retinal degeneration by mitigating the effects of oxidative stress, inhibiting inflammation, and supporting cell survival. Using the Sleeping Beauty transposon system (SB100X) human RPE cells have been transfected with the PEDF and GM-CSF genes and shown stable gene integration, long-term gene expression, and protein secretion using qPCR, western blot, ELISA, and immunofluorescence. To confirm the functionality and the potency of the PEDF and GM-CSF secreted by the transfected RPE cells, we have developed an in vitro assay to quantify the reduction of H2O2-induced oxidative stress on RPE cells in culture. Cell protection was evaluated by analyzing cell morphology, density, intracellular level of glutathione, UCP2 gene expression, and cell viability. Both, transfected RPE cells overexpressing PEDF and/or GM-CSF and cells non-transfected but pretreated with PEDF and/or GM-CSF (commercially available or purified from transfected cells) showed significant antioxidant cell protection compared to non-treated controls. The present H2O2-model is a simple and effective approach to evaluate the antioxidant effect of factors that may be effective to treat AMD or similar neurodegenerative diseases.

Amblyomma americanum serpin 41 (AAS41) inhibits inflammation by targeting chymase and chymotrypsin.

Ticks inject serine protease inhibitors (serpins) into their feeding sites to evade serine protease-mediated host defenses against tick-feeding. This study describes two highly identitical (97%) but functionally different Amblyomma americanum tick saliva serpins (AAS41 and 46) that are secreted at the inception of tick-feeding. We show that AAS41, which encodes a leucine at the P1 site inhibits inflammation system proteases: chymase (SI = 3.23, Ka = 5.6 ± 3.7X103M-1 s-1) and α-chymotrypsin (SI = 3.18, Ka = 1.6 ± 4.1X104M-1 s-1), while AAS46, which encodes threonine has no inhibitory activity. Similary, rAAS41 inhibits rMCP-1 purified from rat peritonuem derived mast cells. Consistently, rAAS41 inhibits chymase-mediated inflammation induced by compound 48/80 in rat paw edema and vascular permeability models. Native AAS41/46 proteins are among tick saliva immunogens that provoke anti-tick immunity in repeatedly infested animals as revealed by specific reactivity with tick immune sera. Of significance, native AAS41/46 play critical tick-feeding functions in that RNAi-mediated silencing caused ticks to ingest significantly less blood. Importantly, monospecific antibodies to rAAS41 blocked inhibitory functions of rAAS41, suggesting potential for design of vaccine antigens that provokes immunity to neutralize functions of this protein at the tick-feeding site. We discuss our findings with reference to tick-feeding physiology and discovery of effective tick vaccine antigens.

Expression and purification of recombinant human serpin B1 yields novel molecules with altered protease inhibitory activities: Functional implications.

Serpin B1 regulates the innate immune system by inhibiting serine and cysteine proteases that control programmed cell death and proliferation pathways. To provide recombinant human proteins for in vitro and in vivo studies we expressed and purified wild-type human serpin B1 and a C344A variant in the yeast S. cerevisiae. Both proteins expressed well and inhibited elastase and chymotrypsin. However, purification of wild-type serpin B1 in the absence of a reducing agent resulted in the specific loss of elastase - but not chymotrypsin - inhibition, concomitant with the formation of two higher molecular weight forms of the protein - a modified monomer and a dimer created via an intermolecular disulfide bond formed between C344 in respective serpin B1 monomers. In contrast to fully reduced serpin B1, both modified forms were good elastase substrates and catalytically cleaved at multiple adjacent sites within the reactive site loop. In contrast, purification of the C344A variant in the absence of a reducing agent yielded only one form of the protein which retained elastase and chymotrypsin inhibitory properties when purified. Furthermore, the elastase inhibitory activity of wild-type serpin B1, but not the C344A variant, was sensitive to oxidation. Thus, wild-type human serpin B1 should be formulated with a pharmaceutically acceptable reducing agent to protect C344 against post-translational oxidative modifications. Alternatively, the C344A variant of this protein may prove to be a suitable drug development candidate. These findings also suggest that inactivation of serpin B1 by oxidation may have a physiological role to play during inflammation.

Changes in strand 6B and helix B during neuroserpin inhibition: Implication in severity of clinical phenotype.

Neuroserpin (NS) is predominantly expressed in brain and inhibits tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA) with implications in brain development and memory. Nature of conformational change in pathological variants in strand 6B and helix B of NS that cause a relatively mild to severe epilepsy (and/or dementia) remains largely elusive. MD simulation with wild type (WT) NS, strand 6B and helix B variants indicated that substitution in this region affects the conformation of the strands 5B, 5A and reactive centre loop. Therefore, we designed variants of NS in strand 6B (I46D and F48S) and helix B (A54F, L55A and L55P) to investigate their role in tPA inhibition mechanism and propensity to aggregate. An interaction analysis showed disturbance of a hydrophobic patch centered at strands 5B, 6B and helix B in I46D and F48S but not in A54F, L55A, L55P and WT NS. Purified I46D, F48S and L55P variants showed decrease in fluorescence emission intensity but have similar α-helical content, however results of A54F and L55A were comparable to WT NS. Analysis of tPA inhibition showed marginal effect on A54F and L55A variant with tPA-NS complex formation. In contrast, I46D, F48S and L55P variants showed massive decrease in tPA inhibition, with no tPA-NS complex formation. Analysis of native PAGE under under polymerization condition showed prompt conversion of I46D, F48S and L55P to latent conformation but not A54F and L55A variants. Identification of these novel conformational changes will aid in the understanding of variable clinical phenotype of shutter region NS variants and other serpins.

The immunosuppressive functions of two novel tick serpins, HlSerpin-a and HlSerpin-b, from Haemaphysalis longicornis.

Serpins are evolutionarily conserved serine protease inhibitors that are widely distributed in animals, plants and microbes. In this study, we reported the cloning and functional characterizations of two novel serpin genes, HlSerpin-a and HlSerpin-b, from the hard tick Haemaphysalis longicornis of China. Recombinant HlSerpin-a and HlSerpin-b displayed protease inhibitory activities against multiple mammalian proteases. Similar to other tick serpins, HlSerpin-a and HlSerpin-b suppressed the expression of inflammatory cytokines such as TNF-α, interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-1ß from lipopolysaccharide-stimulated mouse bone-marrow-derived macrophages (BMDMs) or mouse bone-marrow-derived dendritic cells (BMDCs). The minimum active region (reaction centre loop) of HlSerpin-a, named SA-RCL, showed similar biological activities as HlSerpin-a in the protease inhibition and immune suppression assays. The immunosuppressive activities of full-length HlSerpin-a and SA-RCL are impaired in Cathepsin G or Cathepsin B knockout mouse macrophages, suggesting that the immunomodulation functions of SA and SA-RCL are dependent on their protease inhibitory activity. Finally, we showed that both full-length HlSerpins and SA-RCL can relieve the joint swelling and inflammatory response in collagen-induced mouse arthritis models. These results suggested that HlSerpin-a and HlSerpin-b are two functional arthropod serpins, and the minimal reactive peptide SA-RCL is a potential candidate for drug development against inflammatory diseases.

para-Sulphonato-calix[n]arene capped silver nanoparticles challenge the catalytic efficiency and the stability of a novel human gut serine protease inhibitor.

The Eubacterium saburreum serine protease inhibitor from the human gut microbiota inhibits the eukaryotic pancreatic elastase associated with acute pancreatitis. Interestingly, the inhibition efficiency and stability are markedly increased by the para-sulphonato-calix[8]arene capped silver nanoparticles. Moreover, this enzyme is distinguishable by its high inhibitory effect at broad pH range between 2-10 and temperatures from 10 to 40 °C, in the presence of para-sulphonato-calix[8]arene capped silver nanoparticles the enzyme remains active even at 70 °C.

Cloning and high-level SUMO-mediated fusion expression of a serine protease inhibitor from Hyphantria cunea Drury that exhibits activity against papain.

Insect-derived serine protease inhibitors (serpins) exhibit multiple inhibitory activities. Todate some functional roles for serpins in Hyphantria cunea Drury have been identified. Here, new functional features of the H. cunea serine protease inhibitor (dHC-serpin) were characterized. In this study, the cDNA encoding serpin was amplified from H. cunea (dHC) pupa fat body total RNA using RT-PCR. The full-length dHC-serpin cDNA encoded a protein of 440 amino acids with a predicted 19-amino acid signal peptide and a 421-amino acid functional domain. The functional domain was cloned into a pSUMO vector and transformed into Escherichia coli, resulting in the production of a pSUMO-dHC-serpin fusion protein. The soluble form of this protein was then purified by Ni-IDA chromatography. The SUMO-dHC-serpin fusion protein was then cleaved using a SUMO protease and purified again by Ni-IDA chromatography. dHC-serpin did not inhibit trypsin, elastase, proteinase K or cathepsin B, but strongly inhibited papain. The inhibitor retained its inhibitory activity over a broad range of pH (pH 2-12), temperature (20-50 °C), and DTT concentration (up to 100 mM). A complete loss of inhibitory activity was observed at pH 13 and 70 °C. Serpins generally serve as inhibitors that use a mobile reactive center loop (RCL) as bait to trap protease targets. dHC-serpin, like others serpins, binds papain using the RCL structure.

A new coccolith modified electrode-based biosensor using a cognate pair of aptamers with sandwich-type binding.

In this study, we report a cognate pair of the aptamer-based sandwich-type electrochemical biosensor for type 2 diabetes biomarker (Vaspin) using coccolith modified electrodeposited on the screen-printed gold electrode (CME-SPGE). The coccolith derived from E. huxleyi used in this study were known to be highly-structured microparticles with many nano-sized pores. The CME-SPGE was successfully fabricated by drop-casting coccoliths, followed by Au sputtering and electrodeposition of Au. On this CME-SPGE electrode, the sandwich-type electrochemical aptasensor was fabricated by using a cognate pair of aptamers. The morphological, electrochemical characteristics and the performances of both the CME-SPGE and the completely fabricated sandwich-type aptasensor were investigated by SEM, EDAX, cyclic voltammetry, and chronoamperometry. Due to the synergic effect of a cognate pair of aptamers on CME-SPGE, this newly developed sandwich-type electrochemical biosensor for Vaspin showed high specificity, and good sensitivity with a limit of detection (LOD) of 298 pM, along with more widen the linear range. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report about the use of a coccolith modified electrode with a cognate pair aptamer resulting in sandwich-type binding in an electrochemical biosensor. With the advantages of using highly-structured biomineral microparticles and a cognate pair of aptamers, this new study may pave the innovative way to design a novel sandwich-type electrochemical aptasensor platform.

Methods to Monitor the Functional Subproteomes of SERPIN Protease Inhibitors.

Conformational variants of the unique family of protease inhibitors annotated as SERPINs are most often underrepresented in proteomic analyses. This limits understanding the complex regulation that this family of proteins presents to the networks within the protease web of interactions. Using bead-based separation provided by a family of proteomic enrichment products-notably AlbuVoid™ and AlbuSorb™, we demonstrate their utility to satisfy investigations of serum SERPINs. We also suggest their use to develop functional profiles of the SERPIN proteoforms, and how those can establish relationships to disease phenotypes, gene mutations, and dysregulated mechanisms.

Identification and partial characterization of a novel serpin from Eudiplozoon nipponicum (Monogenea, Polyopisthocotylea).

BACKGROUND: Serpins are a superfamily of serine peptidase inhibitors that participate in the regulation of many physiological and cell peptidase-mediated processes in all organisms (e.g. in blood clotting, complement activation, fibrinolysis, inflammation, and programmed cell death). It was postulated that in the blood-feeding members of the monogenean family Diplozoidae, serpins could play an important role in the prevention of thrombus formation, activation of complement, inflammation in the host, and/or in the endogenous regulation of protein degradation. RESULTS: In silico analysis showed that the DNA and primary protein structures of serpin from Eudiplozoon nipponicum (EnSerp1) are similar to other members of the serpin superfamily. The inhibitory potential of EnSerp1 on four physiologically-relevant serine peptidases (trypsin, factor Xa, kallikrein, and plasmin) was demonstrated and its presence in the worm's excretory-secretory products (ESPs) was confirmed. CONCLUSION: EnSerp1 influences the activity of peptidases that play a role in blood coagulation, fibrinolysis, and complement activation. This inhibitory potential, together with the serpin's presence in ESPs, suggests that it is likely involved in host-parasite interactions and could be one of the molecules involved in the control of feeding and prevention of inflammatory responses.

Host Cell Proteome of Physcomitrella patens Harbors Proteases and Protease Inhibitors under Bioproduction Conditions.

Host cell proteins are inevitable contaminants of biopharmaceuticals. Here, we performed detailed analyses of the host cell proteome of moss ( Physcomitrella patens) bioreactor supernatants using mass spectrometry and subsequent bioinformatics analysis. Distinguishing between the apparent secretome and intracellular contaminants, a complex extracellular proteolytic network including subtilisin-like proteases, metallo-proteases, and aspartic proteases was identified. Knockout of a subtilisin-like protease affected the overall extracellular proteolytic activity. Besides proteases, also secreted protease-inhibiting proteins such as serpins were identified. Further, we confirmed predicted cleavage sites of 40 endogenous signal peptides employing an N-terminomics approach. The present data provide novel aspects to optimize both product stability of recombinant biopharmaceuticals as well as their maturation along the secretory pathway. Data are available via ProteomeXchange with identifier PXD009517.

Role of Antheraea pernyi serpin 12 in prophenoloxidase activation and immune responses.

Serine protease inhibitors play a key role in the immune system of invertebrates by controlling proteolytic cascades. Besides its importance, the knowledge on immune functions of serpins in most of insects is fragmentary. In the present study, we identified serpin-12 from Antheraea pernyi encoding a predicted 402 amino acid residue protein (Apserpin-12). We expressed the recombinant protein in Escherichia coli and the purified protein was used for the synthesis of rabbit anti-Apserpin-12 polyclonal antibodies and functional studies. Quantitative real-time ploymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) analysis revealed that the knock-down of Apserpin-12 enhanced the prophenoloxidase (PPO) cascade stimulated by Micrococcus luteus in hemolymph, whereas addition of recombinant Apserpin-12 protein along with same elicitor led to down-regulate PPO activation. Following different microbial challenge (E. coli, Beauveria bassiana, M. Luteus, and nuclear polyhedrosis virus), the expression of Apserpin-12 mRNA was induced significantly. Furthermore, the Apserpin-12 double-stranded RNA administration elicited the expression of antimicrobial peptides, while the treatment with recombinant protein suppressed their expression. Tissue profile of Apserpin-12 indicated that it is expressed in all examined tissues, that is, hemolymph, malpighian tubules, midgut, silk gland, integument, and fat body with variation in their transcript levels. We concluded that Apserpin-12 may regulate PPO activation and inhibit the production of antimicrobial peptides in A. pernyi, suggesting important role in its immune system.

Potential-resolved "in-electrode" type electrochemiluminescence immunoassay based on functionalized g-C3N4 nanosheet and Ru-NH2 for simultaneous determination of dual targets.

Here, a novel potential-resolved "in-electrode" type electrochemiluminescence (ECL) immunosensor was fabricated based on two different types of luminant Ru-NH2 and AuNPs/g-C3N4 to realize simultaneous detection of dual targets. In this strategy, anti-CA1251 and anti-SCCA1 were immobilized on bare gold electrode as capture probes, which could catch the two corresponding target CA125 and SCCA, and the immobilization of the signal tags was allowed via the interaction between antigen and antibody. In this process, (Ru&anti-CA1252)@GO and anti-SCCA2-AuNPs/g-C3N4 could exhibit two strong and stable ECL emissions at 1.25V and -1.3V respectively, which could be used as effective signal tags. Taking advantage of "in-electrode" type ECL immunosensor, all the electrochemiluminophores near the outer Helmholtz plane are "effective" in participating in the electrochemical reactions and emitting ECL signals. Therefore, the dual targets CA125 and SCCA could be detected within the linear ranges of 0.001-100U/mL and 0.001-100ng/mL, with detection limits of 0.4mU/mL and 0.33pg/mL, respectively. All these results demonstrated that the present potential-resolved "in-electrode" type electrochemiluminescence approach provided a promising analytical method for dual targets analysis with the advantages of simple analytical procedure, small sample volume and lower cost, which made the proposed method potential for clinical detection.

Characterization and functional analysis of serpin-1 like gene from oak silkworm Antheraea pernyi.

Serpins are a broadly distributed family of proteases found in various organisms that play an important role in regulating the immune response. Here, we identified a serpin-1 gene from Antheraea pernyi that encodes a 279 amino acid protein with a molecular weight of 30.8 kDa. We expressed the recombinant Ap-serpin-1 protein in Escherichia coli and used the purified protein to prepare rabbit anti-Ap-serpin-1 polyclonal antibodies. We calculated the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay titer of the antibody as 1:128000. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis revealed that Ap-serpin-1 was expressed in all examined tissues, including hemolymph, malpighian tubules, midgut, silk gland, integument and the fat body; the highest Ap-serpin-1 expression levels was detected in the fat body. We next investigated the expression patterns of Ap-serpin-1 in both fat body and hemolymph samples, following treatment with E. coli, Beauveria bassiana, Micrococcus luteus and nuclear polyhedrosis virus (NPV). We reported that NPV and M. luteus significantly enhanced Ap-serpin-1 expression in the fat body. While, in the hemolymph samples, treatment with B. bassiana and M. luteus was shown to upregulate Ap-serpin-1 expression at 24 h induction. Altogether, our results suggest that Ap-serpin-1 is involved in the innate immunity of A. pernyi.

Existence of a squamous cell carcinoma antigen-immunoglobulin complex causes a deviation between squamous cell carcinoma antigen concentrations determined using two different immunoassays: first report of squamous cell carcinoma antigen coupling with immunoglobulin A.

Background Squamous cell carcinoma antigen is used as a tumour marker and is routinely measured in clinical laboratories. We validated two different immunoassays and found three cases in which the squamous cell carcinoma antigen concentrations deviated greatly between the two immunoassays. Here, we aimed to elucidate the mechanisms responsible for these deviations. Methods The squamous cell carcinoma antigen concentrations were determined using the ARCHITECT SCC (CLIA method) and the ST AIA-PACK SCC (FEIA method). We performed polyethylene glycol precipitation and size exclusion chromatography to assess the molecular weight and spike recovery and absorption tests to examine the presence of an autoantibody. Results Both methods exhibited good performances for the measurement of squamous cell carcinoma antigen, although a correlation test showed large differences in the squamous cell carcinoma antigen concentrations measured using the two methods in three cases. The results of polyethylene glycol treatment and size exclusion chromatography indicated the existence of a large molecular weight squamous cell carcinoma antigen in these three cases. The spike recovery tests suggested the possible presence of an autoantibody against squamous cell carcinoma antigen. Moreover, the absorption test revealed that large squamous cell carcinoma antigen complexes were formed by the association of squamous cell carcinoma antigen with IgG in two cases and with both IgG and IgA in one case. Conclusions This study describes the existence of large molecular weight squamous cell carcinoma antigen that has complexed with immunoglobulin in the serum samples. The reason for the deviations between the two immunoassays might be due to differences of their reactivities against the squamous cell carcinoma antigen immune complexes with their autoantibody. To our knowledge, this is the first report to describe the coupling of squamous cell carcinoma antigen with IgA.

Allium sativum Protease Inhibitor: A Novel Kunitz Trypsin Inhibitor from Garlic Is a New Comrade of the Serpin Family.

PURPOSE: This study was aimed to purify and characterize the Protease inhibitor (PI) from a plant Allium sativum (garlic) with strong medicinal properties and to explore its phytodrug potentials. METHODS: Allium sativum Protease Inhibitor (ASPI) was purified using ammonium sulphate fractionation and Fast Protein Liquid Chromatography on anion exchanger Hi-Trap DEAE column. The purified protein was analyzed for its purity and molecular weight by SDS PAGE. The confirmation of presence of trypsin inhibiting PI was performed by MALDI TOF-TOF and analyzed by MASCOT database. The ASPI was further investigated for its kinetic properties and stability under extreme conditions of pH, temperature and chemical denaturants. Secondary structure was determined by Circular Dichorism (CD) spectroscopy. RESULTS: ASPI of ~15 kDa inhibited trypsin and matched "truncated kunitz Trypsin Inhibitor (Glycine max)" in MASCOT database. The purified ASPI showed 30376.1371 U/mg specific activity with a fold purity of 159.92 and yield ~93%. ASPI was quite stable in the range of pH 2-12 showing a decline in the activity around pH 4-5 suggesting that the pI value of the protein as ASPI aggregates in this range. ASPI showed stability to a broad range of temperature (10-80°C) but declined beyond 80°C. Further, detergents, oxidizing agents and reducing agents demonstrated change in ASPI activity under varying concentrations. The kinetic analysis revealed sigmoidal relationship of velocity with substrate concentration with Vmax 240.8 (µM/min) and Km value of 0.12 µM. ASPI showed uncompetitive inhibition with a Ki of 0.08±0.01 nM). The Far UV CD depicted 2.0% α -helices and 51% ß -sheets at native pH. CONCLUSIONS: To conclude, purified ~15 kDa ASPI exhibited fair stability in wide range of pH and temperature Overall, there was an increase in purification fold with remarkable yield. Chemical modification studies suggested the presence of lysine and tryptophan residues as lead amino acids present in the reactive sites. Therefore, ASPI with trypsin inhibitory property has the potential to be used as a non-cytotoxic clinical agents.

Siropins, novel serine protease inhibitors from gut microbiota acting on human proteases involved in inflammatory bowel diseases.

BACKGROUND: In eukaryotes, the serpins constitute a wide family of protease inhibitors regulating many physiological pathways. Many reports stressed the key role of serpins in several human physiopathologies including mainly the inflammatory bowel diseases. In this context, eukaryotic serpins were largely studied and their use to limit inflammation was reported. In comparison to that, bacterial serpins and mainly those from human gut microbiota remain poorly studied. RESULTS: The two genes encoding for putative serpins from the human gut bacterium Eubacterium sireaum, display low sequence identities. These genes were overexpressed and the encoded proteins, named Siropins, were purified. Activity studies demonstrated that both purified proteins inhibited serine proteases but surprisingly they preferentially inhibited two human serine proteases (Human Neutrophil Elastase and Proteinase3). The biochemical characterization of these Siropins revealed that Siropin 1 was the most active and stable at low pH values while Siropin 2 was more thermoactive and thermostable. Kinetic analysis allowed the determination of the stoichiometry of inhibition (SI) which was around 1 and of the association rate constants of 7.7 × 104 for the Human Neutrophil Elastase and 2.6 × 105 for the Proteinase3. Moreover, both Siropins displayed the ability to inhibit proteases usually present in fecal waters. Altogether our data indicate the high efficiency of Siropins and their probable involvement in the control of the overall intestine protease activity. CONCLUSIONS: Here we report the purification and the biochemical characterization of two novel serpins originated from Eubacterium sireaum, a human gastro-intestinal tract commensal bacteria. These proteins that we called Siropins, efficiently inhibited two human proteases reported to be associated with inflammatory bowel diseases. The determination of the biochemical properties of these enzymes revealed different temperature and pH behaviours that may reflect adaptation of this human commensal bacterium to different ecological environments. To the best of our knowledge, it is the first bacterial serpins showing an attractive inhibition of fecal proteases recovered from a mice group with chemically induced inflammation. Altogether our data highlight the interesting potential of Siropins, and serpins from the human gut microbiota in general, to be used as new alternative to face inflammatory diseases.

Molecular characterization of serine protease inhibitor isoform 3, SmSPI, from Schistosoma mansoni.

Serine protease inhibitors, known as serpins, are pleiotropic regulators of endogenous and exogenous proteases, and molecule transporters. They have been documented in animals, plants, fungi, bacteria, and viruses; here, we characterize a serpin from the trematode platyhelminth Schistosoma mansoni. At least eight serpins have been found in the genome of S. mansoni, but only two have characterized molecular properties and functions. Here, the function of S. mansoni serpin isoform 3 (SmSPI) was analyzed, using both computational and molecular biological approaches. Phylogenetic analysis showed that SmSPI was closely related to Schistosoma haematobium serpin and Schistosoma japonicum serpin B10. Structure determined in silico confirmed that SmSPI belonged to the serpin superfamily, containing nine α-helices, three ß-sheets, and a reactive central loop. SmSPI was highly expressed in schistosomules, predominantly in the head gland, and in adult male and female with intensive accumulation on the spines, which suggests that it may have a role in facilitating intradermal and intravenous survival. Recombinant SmSPI was overexpressed in Escherichia coli; the recombinant protein was of the same size (46 kDa) as the native protein. Immunological analysis suggested that mice infected with S. mansoni responded to rSmSPI at 8 weeks postinfection (wpi) but not earlier. The inhibitory activity of rSmSPI was specific to chymotrypsin but not trypsin, neutrophil elastase, and porcine pancreatic elastase. Elucidating the biological and physiological functions of SmSPI as well as other serpins will lead to further understanding of host-parasite interaction machinery that may provide novel strategies to prevent and control schistosomiasis in the future.

High-level expression and characterization of two serine protease inhibitors from Trichinella spiralis.

Serine protease inhibitors (SPIs) play important roles in tissue homeostasis, cell survival, development, and host defense. So far, SPIs have been identified from various organisms, such as animals, plants, bacteria, poxviruses, and parasites. In this study, two SPIs (Tsp03044 and TspAd5) were identified from the genome of Trichinella spiralis and expressed in Escherichia coli. Sequence analysis revealed that these two SPIs contained essential structural motifs, which were well conserved within the tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) and serpin superfamily. Based on protease inhibition assays, the recombinant Tsp03044 showed inhibitory effects on trypsin, α-chymotrypsin, and pepsin, while the recombinant TspAd5 could effectively inhibit the activities of α-chymotrypsin and pepsin. Both these inhibitors showed activity between 28 and 48 °C. The expression levels of the two SPIs were also determined at different developmental stages of the parasite with real-time PCR. Our results indicate that Tsp03044 and TspAd5 are functional serine protease inhibitors.