Teladorsagia circumcincta 1,6 bisphosphate aldolase: molecular and biochemical characterisation, structure analysis and recognition by immune hosts

Abstract

ABSTRACTA 1095 bp full length cDNA encoding Teladorsagia circumcincta aldolase (TciALDO) was cloned, expressed in Escherichia coli, the recombinant protein purified and its kinetic properties determined. A phylogenetic tree was constructed using helminth aldolase sequences. The predicted protein consisted of 365 amino acids and was present as a single band of about 44 kDa on SDS-PAGE. Multiple alignments of the protein sequence of TciALDO with homologues from other helminths showed that the greatest similarity (93%) to the aldolases of Haemonchus contortus and Dictyocaulus viviparus, 82-86% similarity to the other nematode sequences and 68-71% similarity to cestode and trematode enzymes. Substrate binding sites and conserved regions were identified and were completely conserved in other homologues. At 25 °C, the optimum pH for TciALDO activity was pH 7.5, the Vmax was 432 ± 23 nmoles.min−1.mg−1 protein and the apparent Km for the substrate fructose 1,6-bisphosphate was 0.24 ± 0.01 μM (mean ± SEM, n = 3). Antibodies in both serum and saliva from field-immune, but not nematode-naïve, sheep recognised recombinant TciALDO in enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. The recognition of the recombinant protein by antibodies generated by exposure of sheep to native aldolase indicates similar antigenicity of the two proteins.