Protease activity in the excretory-secretory products of nymphal stage of Linguatula serrata: First detection of a metalloprotease.

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the presence of proteases and determine the main protease pre-sent in the excretory-secretory products (ESPs) from nymphal stage of Linguatula serrata. Infected mesenteric lymph nodes of goats were collected from Tabriz slaughterhouse, northwestern Iran. Re-covered Linguatula serrata nymphs were immersed in culture medium (MEM), then ESPs were col-lected and protease activity in presence of specific inhibitors was assayed. Protease enzyme was fur-ther characterised by SDS-PAGE. The results of this study showed that the main protease in the ESPs from the nymphal stage of L. serrata was a metalloprotease that was resistant to heat. In conclusion, these data show that a major protease secreted by the larval stage of L. serrata exhibited properties that may play a role in the pathogenesis of L. serrata nymphs.

Keywords

• linguatula serrata
• protease
• metalloprotease
• zoonotic