• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.30 no.11
• /
• pp.931-938
• /
• 2020

Translationally controlled tumor protein (TCTP) is one of the most abundant proteins in various eukaryotic organisms. TCTPs play important roles in cell physiological processes in cancer, cell proliferation, gene regulation, and heat shock response. TCTP is also considered an important factor in the resistance to oxidative stress induced by dithiothreitol or hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂). Arctic calanoid copepods have a variety of antioxidant defense systems to regulate the levels of potentially harmful reactive oxygen species generated by ultraviolet radiation in the Arctic marine ecosystem. However, information on the antioxidant activity of TCTP in the Arctic Calanus glacialis is still scarce. To understand the putative antioxidant function of the Arctic copepod C. glacialis TCTP (Cg-TCTP), its gene was cloned and sequenced. The Cg-TCTP comprised 522 bp and encoded a 174-amino acid putative protein with a calculated molecular weight of ~23 kDa. The recombinant Cg-TCTP (Cg-r TCTP) gene was overexpressed in Escherichia coli (BL21), and Cg-rTCTP-transformed cells were grown in the presence or absence of H₂O₂. Cg-rTCTP-transformed E. coli showed increased tolerance to high H₂O₂ concentrations. Therefore, TCTP may be an important antioxidant protein related to tolerance of the Arctic copepod C. glacialis to oxidative stress in the harsh environment of the Arctic Ocean.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
• /
• v.52 no.1
• /
• pp.21-26
• /
• 2014

Dirofilaria immitis (heartworm) infections affect domestic dogs, cats, and various wild mammals with increasing incidence in temperate and tropical areas. More sensitive antibody detection methodologies are required to diagnose asymptomatic dirofilariasis with low worm burdens. Applying current transcriptomic technologies would be useful to discover potential diagnostic markers for D. immitis infection. A filarial homologue of the mammalian translationally controlled tumor protein (TCTP) was initially identified by screening the assembled transcriptome of D. immitis (DiTCTP). A BLAST analysis suggested that the DiTCTP gene shared the highest similarity with TCTP from Loa loa at protein level (97%). A histidine-tagged recombinant DiTCTP protein (rDiTCTP) of 40 kDa expressed in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) showed immunoreactivity with serum from a dog experimentally infected with heartworms. Localization studies illustrated the ubiquitous presence of rDiTCTP protein in the lateral hypodermal chords, dorsal hypodermal chord, muscle, intestine, and uterus in female adult worms. Further studies on D. immitis-derived TCTP are warranted to assess whether this filarial protein could be used for a diagnostic purpose.