A Study of Heat Shock Protein 90 From the Filarial Nematode, Brugia pahangi

Cockroft, Alexis Cunliffe (1999) A Study of Heat Shock Protein 90 From the Filarial Nematode, Brugia pahangi. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

Lymphatic filariasis has been reported as the second leading cause of permanent and long term disability world wide. The most important filarial nematodes with respect to lymphatic filariasis are Wuchereria hancrofti and Brugia malayi. Wuchereria is host- specific, but the sub-periodic strain of Brugia malayi and the closely related parasite Brugia pahangi infect a wide range of hosts. Heat shock proteins (HSPs) have been studied in vector-borne parasites, like Brugia, the life cycle of which involves a compulsory transition from ambient temperature to mammalian body temperature. The role of various HSPs remains controversial, but the expression of these proteins may confer a survival advantage in the parasite following transmission to the mammalian host or in the face of an immune response. Brugia pahangi hsp90 has high homology to hsp90 clones from B. malayi and the predicted amino acid sequence contains conserved domains present in HSP90s from other species. Southern blot analyses suggested that hsp90 was a single copy gene and that related genes were not present in the B. pahangi genome. A 1.2kb upstream region of B. pahangi hsp90 was analyzed and putative transcription factor binding sites were identified. The (major) transcriptional start site of hsp90 was calculated using a modified 5' RACE protocol. A 0.54kb region of the hsp90 "promoter", containing the transcriptional start site, a TATA box, five heat shock elements, a GC box and a CCAAT box, induced the expression of a reporter gene in an heterologous transfection system. Northern blot analysis revealed that hsp90 is heat shock inducible, consistent with a heat shock protein gene and that hsp90 mRNA is enriched in mf maintained at 37

• Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
• Qualification Level: Doctoral
• Additional Information: Adviser: Eileen Devaney
• Keywords: Veterinary science, Parasitology
• Date of Award: 1999
• Depositing User: Enlighten Team
• Unique ID: glathesis:1999-74686
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 27 Sep 2019 17:10
• Last Modified: 27 Sep 2019 17:10
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/74686