Journal
PEPTIDES
Volume 41, Issue -, Pages 59-65Publisher
ELSEVIER SCIENCE INC
DOI: 10.1016/j.peptides.2012.10.015
Keywords
PSTI; Kazal; Protease inhibitor; Arthropod; Phylogeny
Funding
- K.U. Leuven Research Foundation [GOA/11/02]
- Research Foundation of Flanders (FWO-Flanders)
- Interuniversity Attraction Poles programme (Belgian Science Policy) [P6/14]
- IWT (Instituut voor de aanmoediging van innovatie door Wetenschap en Technologie in Vlaanderen)
- FWO
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In mammalian pancreatic cells, the pancreatic secretory trypsin inhibitor (PSTI) belonging to the Kazal-family prevents the premature activation of digestive enzymes and thus plays an important role in a protective mechanism against tissue destruction by autophagy. Although a similar protective mechanism exists in Arthropoda, the distribution of these inhibitors in this phylum remains obscure. A comprehensive in silico search of nucleotide databases, revealed the presence of members of the Kazal-family in the four major subphyla of the Arthropoda. Especially in the Hexapoda and the Crustacea these inhibitors are widespread, while in the Chelicerata and Myriapoda only a few Kazal-like protease inhibitors were found. A sequence alignment of inhibitors retrieved in the digestive system of insects revealed a conservation of the PSTI characteristics and strong resemblance to vertebrate PSTI. A phylogenetic analysis of these inhibitors showed that they generally cluster according to their order. The results of this data mining study provide new evidence for the existence of an ancient protective mechanism in metazoan digestive systems. Kazal-like inhibitors, which play an important protective role in the pancreas of vertebrates, also seem to be present in Arthropoda. (c) 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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