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R.M.
12
Maizelsand
andSecreted
A. LoukasProteins of T. canis
12
Introduction
Toxocara canis is a remarkable nematode parasite, commonly found in
dogs but able to invade a wide range of other hosts, including humans
(Glickman and Schantz, 1981; Lewis and Maizels, 1993). It displays an array
of striking features that excite interest: a tissue-dwelling phase that can
endure for many years; an ability to cross the placenta and infect unborn
pups; a tropism for neurological tissue in paratenic hosts; survival in vitro
for many months in serum-free medium; the secretion of a set of biologically active glycoproteins in vivo and in vitro; and the possession of a surface
glycocalyx that is jettisoned under immune attack. For all these reasons,
T. canis presents an important model system for parasitic nematodes
(Maizels and Robertson, 1991; Maizels et al., 1993). In addition, toxocariasis
causes a significant pathology in humans (Gillespie, 1987, 1993) as well as
in dogs (Lloyd, 1993), and elimination of this infection would be a highly
desirable goal.
This chapter summarizes the biological features of this parasite, and
focuses on the molecular structure and biological function of the major
glycoproteins found on the surface coat and secreted by larvae maintained
in vitro. Since this subject was last reviewed (Maizels et al., 1993), substantial
progress has been made in defining the primary sequence, glycosylation
and antigenicity of secreted proteins. In particular, sequence information
has led to demonstration of functional properties that may explain how this
extraordinary organism defuses host immunity at the molecular level.
CAB International 2001. Parasitic Nematodes
(eds M.W. Kennedy and W. Harnett)
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Immune Evasion
The ability of arrested-stage larval parasites to survive in the tissues for many
years must depend on potent immune-evasive and anti-inflammatory
mechanisms operated by the parasite (Ghafoor et al., 1984; Smith, 1991).
Secreted macromolecules are the primary candidates for immune evasion
mediators, and indeed larvae are found to release large quantities of
glycoproteins in vitro. Antibodies to secreted TES glycoproteins also detect
antigens in vivo which appear to have been released from parasites. For this
reason, we have analysed the secreted proteins in detail, as set out below.
Several routes have been adopted: the direct, biochemical approach of protein analysis; an immunological path of identifying antigenic determinants;
and most recently a molecular biological strategy. In the latter respect, we
have undertaken a broader survey of the major products encoded by this
parasite, expecting that it must devote a large part of its energy to evading
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presumably to subvert the immune system (Loukas et al., 1999). TES-32 has
close equivalents in a 33 kDa T. cati protein (Kennedy et al., 1987) and a
T. vitulorum product of 30 kDa (Page et al., 1991), so the expression of such
proteins may be a common feature of these organisms.
Several other C-type lectins have since been found in Toxocara
(Fig. 12.4). Two are simple variants of TES-32, differing by 1317% in
amino acid sequence but with identical ligand binding sites; these have
been termed CTL-2 and CTL-3. It has yet to be determined whether these
additional lectins are alleles or represent different coding loci, and it
has not been established whether they are also secreted. A fourth lectin,
CTL-4, corresponds to TES-70 (Loukas et al., 2000), as described below. In
addition, there is some evidence that TES-45 and TES-55 are lectins, as
detailed below.
Fig. 12.3. Model of the structure of Tc-CTL-1, based on the known crystal
structure of rat MBP-A. Model created by Dr Nick Mullin and published in Loukas
et al. (1999).
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Fig. 12.4. Schematic summary of the four T. canis C-type lectins discovered.
All have an N-terminal predicted signal sequence of 18 aa, with mature proteins
starting at amino acid 19. Other numbers above the bars are those of the last
amino acid in each domain. The key carbohydrate-binding residues (QPD or
EPD) are shown, as is the position of the unusual double cysteine in the adjacent
loop. Solid circles represent N-glycosylation sites.
indicating a close sequence similarity. TES-55 has been purified and tryptic
peptides have been sequenced (M. Hintz, University of Giessen, Germany).
These sequences are similar but not identical to TES-32, indicating that this
is an as yet uncloned new lectin.
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TES-400
TES-400 is a high molecular weight, diffuse component which has so far
eluded analysis, and is distinct in many respects from the other TES molecules. Unlike the smaller proteins, TES-400 is not detected on the larval
surface by any labelling technique; it appears to be predominantly carbohydrate as judged by gel staining, lectin binding (Meghji and Maizels, 1986)
and proteolytic sensitivity. It does not incorporate [35S]-methionine (Meghji
and Maizels, 1986; Badley et al., 1987), and incorporates [14C]-serine very
poorly (Page and Maizels, 1992). TES-400 is resistant to most proteases,
other than pronase, treatment with which increases its apparent molecular
weight on SDS-PAGE gels, presumably by removing the SDS-binding
peptide moiety (Page and Maizels, 1992). Interestingly, TES-400 reacts with
polyclonal antibodies to Tc-CTL-1, but not with the CTL-1-specific monoclonal antibody Tcn-3 (Loukas et al., 1999). This suggests that TES-400 may
be analogous to mammalian proteoglycans such as aggrecan and brevican,
which contain lectin domains within a highly glycosylated structure.
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Novel ES proteins?
The TES proteins described above were initially defined in biochemical
terms, and subsequently reconciled to molecular databases. The reverse
route has also been pursued: we have characterized the most highly
expressed mRNAs in the infective larva, and examined whether they
encode secreted proteins. Of the eight most abundant transcripts, three are
for known TES proteins (TES-32, TES-26 and TES-120/MUC-1) and one is
for a mitochondrial protein. The remaining four highly expressed mRNAs
are all large, novel sequences, which we have termed abundant novel transcript genes. Together these four transcripts account for 18% of the parasite
mRNA represented in a cDNA library. Although these genes bear no coding sequence homology to each other or to any known sequence (including
the C. elegans genome), they share 3 untranslated region sequences,
indicating that common control elements may underlie their very high rate
of transcription. All ANT sequences bear potential N-glycosylation sites,
and preliminary evidence points to one of them (ANT-005) encoding a
protein of 40 kDa in TES (K. Tetteh, 1999, unpublished results).
Secreted Enzymes
Proteases
It is known that Toxocara larvae secrete a serine protease (Robertson et al.,
1989), which migrated around 120 kDa on substrate gels, but we have been
unable to assign this activity to a particular molecule with any certainty.
Other protease types have also been found. One, a cathepsin L, is interesting because it has a substrate specificity more reminiscent of a cathepsin B,
but its sequence outside the active site is much more related to the
cathepsin L subgroup (Loukas et al., 1998). We have also characterized an
asparaginyl endopeptidase (legumain), a member of a newly emerging
family of cysteine proteases with no structural homology to the papain-like
enzymes (Maizels et al., 2000), and a cathepsin Z, a member of a recently
defined subgroup with characteristic insertions close to the active site
residues (Falcone et al., 2000). So far, none of these cysteine proteases has
been found to be secreted by larvae, and no serine protease gene has been
isolated. It is likely that many more proteases from this parasite will yet be
discovered to play important roles in larval biology.
Superoxide dismutases
The secretion of superoxide dismutase (SOD) by cultured larvae has been
detected by conventional biochemical tests, and a recombinant protein
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Fig. 12.5. Schematic summary of the eight T. canis proteins containing predicted SXC (NC6) domains. The consensus is shown in the N-terminal domain of
PEB-1 (phosphatidylethanolamine-binding protein-1) as xCxDxxxDC(6x)C(11x)
RCxxTCxxC. This consensus is faithfully repeated in MUC-1 (mucin-1), MUC-2,
MUC-4 and MUC-5, and in all but the C-terminal domain of MUC-3. This domain
(and the C-terminal SXC domain of PEB-1) show consensus spacing but some
variation in consensus residues. Two additional proteins with quadrupled SXC
domains differ in spacing between cysteines-2, -3 and -4, and show more
variation in consensus residues. These are VAH-1 (venom allergen homologue)
and HUF-001 (homologue of unknown function-001).
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Carbohydrate Moieties
Ascarid nematodes were shown more than 60 years ago to contain high
levels of carbohydrate antigens (Campbell, 1936). Analyses of whole
TES products revealed a surprisingly high level of glycosylation, mostly
accounted for by galactose and N-acetylgalactosamine (Meghji and Maizels,
1986). As the core sugars for asparagine (N)-linked oligosaccharides
are mannose and N-acetylglucosamine, this composition indicated a
predominance of O-linked glycosylation. Analysis by mass spectrometry
(Khoo et al., 1991, 1993) defined two major O-linked glycans, both variants
of a trisaccharide containing N-acetylgalactosamine, galactose and fucose.
The fucose is invariably O-methylated, and the galactose is methylated
in 50% of the molecules. In T. cati the galactose is fully methylated, so
that the trisaccharide containing a single methylation site on fucose
alone represents a T. canis-specific structure. The N-linked oligosaccharide
structure which predominates has also been determined to be a
biantennary trimannosylated structure linked to a chitobiose-asparagine
core, resembling products found in insects (Khoo et al., 1993).
Carbohydrate specificities were also pre-eminent in a panel of
monoclonal antibodies generated to TES (Maizels et al., 1987). MAbs Tcn-2
and Tcn-8 recognize a spectrum of TES glycoproteins, including TES-400,
TES-120, TES-70, TES-55 and TES-32, through a periodate-sensitive
determinant presumed to be conjugated to various peptide backbones.
There is a striking contrast between the two antibodies, however, in that
Tcn-2 reacts only to T. canis glycoproteins, while Tcn-8 cross-reacts fully
with products from T. cati. It remains to be determined whether Tcn-2
recognizes the species-specific carbohydrate structure described above, but
this seems a likely explanation.
The T. canis trisaccharide can be considered to be a mammalian blood
group antigen H (or type O) to which has been added additional methyl
groups that represent a substantial modification. There is, however, some
evidence for minor unmodified bloodgroup-like oligosaccharides (Khoo
et al., 1993). Moreover, the presence of tetrasaccharides containing
N-acetylgalactosamine linked to the galactose is indicated by the blood
group A-like reactivity of TES in antibody and lectin binding analyses
(Smith et al., 1983; Meghji and Maizels, 1986).
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Concluding Remarks
Toxocara has an exceptional ability to withstand attack by the immune
system, most probably due to the specific glycoproteins that constitute the
surface and secreted compartments of the parasite. Tissue-dwelling larvae
appear to devote a large part of their metabolic energy into production of
the TES proteins. We have discovered that one of the major products
released by the infective larvae of the nematode T. canis is similar at both
structural and functional levels to host C-type lectins, a family of proteins
that are pivotal in the immune system. These sugar-binding proteins
mediate key events in the immune response to infection, particularly in
inflammation when cells and harmful molecules are focused on the site of
invasion. Host lectins are required to bind to carbohydrate danger signals
in order to initiate inflammatory influx around the parasite, and the release
of a parasite lectin may block this process.
The molecular characterization of the TES proteins now provides
an opportunity for immunological investigations at a much finer level of
definition. Significant contrasts have been observed between infected
patients with different syndromes, with respect to surface binding,
proportions of anti-peptide and anti-carbohydrate specificities, and isotype
(Smith, 1993), and it may now be possible to relate these patterns to
recognition of individual antigens. The T cell response to TES is also
known to be remarkably skewed towards the Th2 phenotype (Del Prete
et al., 1991) and large quantities of TES given to mice induce eosinophilia
(Sugane and Oshima, 1984). These biological activities may soon be
attributed to identified molecular products of the parasite.
There are practical potentials for much of this work. As the parasite
is essentially a successful tissue transplant, residing in muscle or other soft
tissue without rejection, we believe that parasite products could prove
useful in enhancing tissue graft success in clinical medicine. On a more
immediate basis, we have isolated a range of parasite proteins that can be
synthesized in the laboratory, promising a much better diagnostic reagent
for determining parasite infection whether in dogs, the natural host, or on
the occasions when human infection occurs. Finally, and perhaps most
importantly, the isolation of genes encoding the major larval antigens paves
the way for development of a vaccine against canine toxocariasis, which
may in future lead to the eradication of this threat to both human and
veterinary health.
Acknowledgements
The studies described in this chapter have been supported by the Medical
Research Council, the Leverhulme Trust and the Wellcome Trust.
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