Abstract
Schistosomiasis caused by parasitic blood flukes of the genus Schistosoma is a global health problem with over 200 million people infected. Schistosoma mansoni cathepsin B1 (SmCB1) is a gut-associated protease critical for digestion of host blood proteins as a source of nutrients. SmCB1 is a validated drug target, and inhibitors of SmCB1 represent promising anti-schistosomals. A comprehensive structural and functional characterization of SmCB1 provides a starting point for the rational design of selective and potent SmCB1 inhibitors. Here, we report optimized protocols for (1) the production of recombinant SmCB1 in the Pichia pastoris expression system and its purification, (2) the measurement of SmCB1 activity and inhibition in a kinetic fluorescence assay, and (3) the preparation and crystallization of SmCB1 in complex with a model vinyl sulfone inhibitor, and the determination of its crystal structure.
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Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the project InterBioMed LO1302 from the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic, grant NV18-05-00345 from the Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic, and the institutional project RVO 61388963.
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Jílková, A., Horn, M., Mareš, M. (2020). Structural and Functional Characterization of Schistosoma mansoni Cathepsin B1. In: Timson, D.J. (eds) Schistosoma mansoni. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 2151. Humana, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-0635-3_12
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-0635-3_12
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