Characterisation of a cysteine protease from poultry red mites and its potential use as a vaccine for chickens.
Poultry red mites (PRMs, Dermanyssus gallinae) are ectoparasites that negatively affect farmed chickens, leading to serious economic losses worldwide. Acaricides have been used to control PRMs in poultry houses. However, some PRMs have developed resistance to acaricides, and therefore different approaches are required to manage the problems caused by PRMs. Vaccination of chickens is one of the methods being considered to reduce the number of PRMs in poultry houses. In a previous study, a cysteine protease, Deg-CPR-1, was identified as a candidate vaccine against PRMs distributed in Europe. In this study, we investigated the characteristics of Deg-CPR-1. A phylogenetic analysis revealed that Deg-CPR-1 is closely related to the digestive cysteine proteases of other mite species, and it was classified into a cluster different from that of chicken cathepsins. Deg-CPR-1 of PRMs in Japan has an amino acid substitution compared with that of PRMs in Europe, but it showed efficacy as a vaccine, consistent with previous findings. Deg-CPR-1 exhibited cathepsin L-like enzyme activity. In addition, the Deg-CPR-1 mRNA was expressed in the midgut and in all stages of PRMs that feed on blood. These results imply that Deg-CPR-1 in the midgut may have important functions in physiological processes, and the inhibition of its expression may contribute to the efficacy of a Deg-CPR-1-based vaccine. Further research is required to fully understand the mechanisms of vaccine efficacy.
['Murata|Shiro|S|0000-0002-2569-899X', 'Taniguchi|Ayaka|A|', 'Isezaki|Masayoshi|M|', 'Fujisawa|Sotaro|S|', 'Sakai|Eishi|E|', 'Taneno|Akira|A|', 'Ichii|Osamu|O|', 'Ito|Takuya|T|', 'Maekawa|Naoya|N|', 'Okagawa|Tomohiro|T|', 'Konnai|Satoru|S|', 'Ohashi|Kazuhiko|K|']
D000818:Animals D002645:Chickens D057056:Cysteine Proteases D005060:Europe D007564:Japan D008924:Mite Infestations D008925:Mites D010802:Phylogeny D011201:Poultry Diseases D014612:Vaccines
Cysteine protease Poultry red mite Dermanyssus gallinae Deg-CPR-1 Cathepsin L Vaccine candidate