Aurora kinase as a putative target to tick control
Bruno Moraes,
Helga Gomes,
Luiz Saramago,
Valdir Braz,
Luís Fernando Parizi,
Gloria Braz,
Itabajara da Silva Vaz,
Carlos Logullo,
Jorge Moraes
Affiliations
Bruno Moraes
Laboratório de Bioquímica de Artrópodes Hematófagos, Instituto de Bioquímica Médica Leopoldo de Meis, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil Laboratório Integrado de Bioquímica Hatisaburo Masuda, NUPEM-Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro campus Macaé, Brazil
Helga Gomes
Laboratório de Tecido Conjuntivo, Hospital Universitário Clementino Fraga Filho and Instituto de Bioquímica Médica Leopoldo de Meis, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
Luiz Saramago
Laboratório Integrado de Bioquímica Hatisaburo Masuda, NUPEM-Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro campus Macaé, Brazil
Valdir Braz
Laboratório Integrado de Bioquímica Hatisaburo Masuda, NUPEM-Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro campus Macaé, Brazil
Luís Fernando Parizi
Centro de Biotecnologia and Faculdade de Veterinária, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil
Gloria Braz
Instituto de Química, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
Centro de Biotecnologia and Faculdade de Veterinária, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia em Entomologia Molecular, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
Laboratório de Bioquímica de Artrópodes Hematófagos, Instituto de Bioquímica Médica Leopoldo de Meis, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia em Entomologia Molecular, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
Jorge Moraes
Laboratório Integrado de Bioquímica Hatisaburo Masuda, NUPEM-Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro campus Macaé, Brazil Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia em Entomologia Molecular, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
Aurora kinases (AURK) play a central role in controlling cell cycle in a wide range of organisms. They belong to the family of serine-threonine kinase proteins. Their role in the cell cycle includes, among others, the entry into mitosis, maturation of the centrosome and formation of the mitotic spindle. In mammals, 3 isoforms have been described: A, B and C, which are distinguished mainly by their function throughout the cell cycle. Two aurora kinase coding sequences have been identified in the transcriptome of the cattle tick Rhipicephalus microplus (Rm-AURKA and Rm-AURKB) containing the aurora kinase-specific domain. For both isoforms, the highest number of AURK coding transcripts is found in ovaries. Based on deduced amino acid sequences, it was possible to identify non-conserved threonine residues which are essential to AURK functions in vertebrates and which are not present in R. microplus sequences. A pan AURK inhibitor (CCT137690) caused cell viability decline in the BME26 tick embryonic cell line. In silico docking assay showed an interaction between Aurora kinase and CCT137690 with exclusive interaction sites in Rm-AURKA. The characterization of exclusive regions of the enzyme will enable new studies aimed at promoting species-specific enzymatic inhibition in ectoparasites.
