Cuticular protein

Fetterer, R.H., Rhoads, M.L. and Urban, J.F. (1993) Synthesis of tyrosine-derived cross-links in Ascaris suum cuticular proteins. Journal of Parasitology 79,160-166. 

Charles J. P, Bouhin H., Quennedey B., Courrent A. and Delachambre J. (1992) cDNA cloning and deduced amino acid sequence of a major, glycine-rich cuticular protein from the coleopteran Tenebrio molitor. Temporal and spatial distribution of the transcript during metamorphosis. Eur. J. Biochem. 206, 813-819. 

The inducibility of Prl by proteinaceous compounds released enzymatically from insect cuticle was also studied inM anisopliae (Paterson et al., 1994b). In the case of Schistocerca gregaria cuticle treated with KOH in order to remove proteins, no induction of Prl production was observed, while cuticle treated with chloroform or ether to remove lipids was able to induce enzyme production. Digestion of cuticle with Prl or the trypsin-like protease Pr2 ofM anisopliae resulted in peptides mainly in the range of 150-2000 Da. The addition of these peptides at 3 pg Ala equivalents ml"1 led to the induction of Prl production to a level (75%) similar to that observed in the case of untreated insect cuticle. The ability of various amino acids and peptides abundant in insect cuticular protein (Ala, Gly, Ala-Ala, Ala-Ala-Ala, Ala-Pro and Pro-Ala) to induce Prl was tested but none of them was found to increase enzyme production in the levels observed with cuticle, or peptides enzymatically released from the cuticle. 

Kennaugh (8) reports changes in the quantity of j3-alanine in the cuticle of the American cockroach, Periplaneta americana (L.), during hardening and tanning, but it is not clear whether this represents free or combined /3-alanine. Data presented herein and additional unpublished material indicate that the /3-alanine is, indeed, a constituent of the cuticular protein. 

Also it has been proposed that bonds exist between cuticular protein and chitin (38). Solid state l N-NMR analysis of chitin prepared by alkali extraction of 1, 3-[ 5 ]-histidine labeled M. sexta pupal exuviae revealed an N chemical shift expected for the substituted imidazole nitrogen cross-link structure depicted in Fig. 3 (24). Apparently, the chitin is not coupled directly to protein but, instead, to a diphenolic carbon, which serves as a part of the bridge between protein and chitin macromolecules. 

Fujimoto, D., Horiuchi, K. and Hirama, M. (1981) Isotrityrosine, a new cross-linking amino acid isolated from Ascaris cuticle collagen. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 99 637-643. Fetterer, R. H. (1989) The cuticular proteins from free-living and parasitic stages of Haemonchus contortus. I. Isolation and partial characterization. Comp. Biochem. Physiol. 94B 383-388. 

Selkirk, M. E. (1991) Structure and biosynthesis of cuticular proteins of lymphatic fllarial parasites. In Parasitic Nematodes Antigens, Membranes, and Genes (ed. Kennedy, M. W.). Taylor amd Francis, Bristol, PA. 

Figures 4-10 to 4-12 show the effects of ultraviolet exposure followed by reaction with alkaline hydrogen peroxide for different times (15 min to 2 h). The effects of the alkaline peroxide on ultraviolet exposed hair are to dissolve parts of the cuticle, providing for even less structural differentiation. Part of the cuticular proteins are solubilized by these combined chemical treatments into gelatin-like glue that is redeposited between the fibers, see Figure 4-11. This effect was produced after only 15 min exposure to alkaline peroxide after photochemical degradation. The total lack of surface structural definition is seen in the most extreme case in Figure 4-12 where no cuticle scale definition exists after 2h of treatment with alkaline hydro-...

Figure 4-15. SEM illustrating the hair surface in the dry state after three treatments with m-diperisophthalic acid. Note the axial folds in the scales compared to the control in Figure 4-14. These folds are created by the loss of cuticular proteins due to the oxidation reaction.

Abstract Many barnacle species are gregarious. This is an essential behavior for those species that can only reproduce by mating with a neighboring barnacle. Proximity of adult barnacles is achieved by gregarious settlement of the cypris larva. The chemical basis of this behavior was established 60 years ago, but attempts to characterize the cue to settlement met with limited success. This chapter presents evidence obtained in recent years that the cue is an a2-macroglobulin-like cuticular protein, detected by cyprids using a tactile chemical sense as they explore the substratum for a suitable settlement site. 

Fig. 22.1 Gregarious settlement of barnacle cypris larvae, (a) Cyprids approach the substratum, perhaps after encountering a waterborne cue released by adults (b) contact with substratum and onset of (c) searching behavior (d) cyprid contacts an adult conspecific and is stimulated to settle by a cuticular protein - the settlement-inducing protein complex (SIPC). The cyprid may return to the plankton at any stage of the sequence (b-d). Drawing by Jorge A. Varela Ramos...

Further evidence to support the original hypothesis of Knight-Jones (1953) that the SIPC is a cuticular protein was obtained recently (Dreanno et al. 2006b). Polyclonal antibodies raised against peptide sequences from the C-terminus and toward the N-terminus of the SIPC were used to localize the glycoprotein to all tissues lined by... 

Kumari SS, Skinner DM (1993) Proteins of crustacean exoskeleton II immunological evidence for their relatedness to cuticular proteins of two insects. J Exp Zool 265 195-210... 

Willis JH (1999) Cuticular proteins in insects and crustaceans. Am Zool 39 600-609 Winsor GL, Innes DJ (2002) Sexual reproduction in Daphnia pulex (Crustacea Cladocera) ... 

Rebers J. E. and WUlis J. H. 2001. A conserved domain in arthropod cuticular proteins binds chitin. Insect Biochem Mol Biol 31 1083-1093. 

Haebel, S., Jensen, C., Andersen, S.O., and Roepstorff, P. (1995) Isoforms of a cuticular protein from larvae of the meal beetle, Tenehrio molitor, studied by mass spectrometry in combination with Edman... 

Cuticular Proteins. The exocuticula and especially the A-layer are primarily composed of cystine-rich proteins, the endocuticula of low-cystine proteins with a high proportion of amino acids with anionic and cationic side chains. The isodipeptide links (Fig. 10), produced under catalysis of Ca-dependent transglutaminases and also to be found in the medullary proteins, are typical of these proteins [18]. 

The shells of shellfish consist not only of chitin. In the edible crab Cancer pagurus and the lobster Homarus americanus) the calcified, rigid parts of the exoskeleton also contain a series of proteins that are also found in the noncalcified, flexible regions. Most of these proteins have a molar mass below 20 kDa some of them seem specific to crustaceans but others are also present in some insects (Andersen, 1999). The cuticular proteins of the horseshoe crab [Limulus polyphemus) show similarities with those of other arthropods, in particular those of the spider Araneus diadematus, but their molar masses are lower (7-16 kDa) Dietzel, Andersen, and Hojrup, 2003). 

Dietzel, N., Andersen, S.O., and Hojrup, P. (2003) Cuticular proteins from the horseshoe crab, Limulus polyphemus. Comp. Biochem. Physiol, 134B, 489-497. 

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