Laboratory of Vector Immunology, Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic.
Adv Exp Med Biol. 2011;712:177-91. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4419-8414-2_11.
Cysteine proteases have been discovered in various bloodfeeding ectoparasites. Here, we assemble the available information about the function of these peptidases and reveal their role in hematophagy and parasite development. While most of the data shed light on key proteolytic events that play a role in arthropod physiology, we also report on the association of cysteine proteases with arthropod vectorial capacity. With emphasis on ticks, specifically Ixodes ricinus, we finally propose a model about the contribution of cysteine peptidases to blood digestion and how their concerted action with other tick midgut proteases leads to the absorbance of nutrients by the midgut epithelial cells.
半胱氨酸蛋白酶已在各种吸血外寄生虫中被发现。在这里，我们收集了有关这些肽酶功能的现有信息，并揭示了它们在吸血和寄生虫发育中的作用。虽然大多数数据都阐明了在节肢动物生理学中起关键作用的蛋白水解事件，但我们也报告了半胱氨酸蛋白酶与节肢动物载体能力的关联。特别强调蜱，具体来说是Ixodes ricinus，我们最后提出了一个关于半胱氨酸肽酶对血液消化的贡献的模型，以及它们与其他蜱中肠蛋白酶的协同作用如何导致中肠上皮细胞吸收营养物质。
