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Aspartic Cathepsin D Endopeptidase Contributes to Extracellular Digestion in Clawed Lobsters Homarus americanus and Homarus gammarus

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Abstract

Acid digestive proteinases were studied in the gastric fluids of two species of clawed lobster (Homarus americanus and Homarus gammarus). An active protein was identified in both species as aspartic proteinase by specific inhibition with pepstatin A. It was confirmed as cathepsin D by mass mapping, N-terminal, and full-length cDNA sequencing. Both lobster species transcribed two cathepsin D mRNAs: cathepsin D1 and cathepsin D2. Cathepsin D1 mRNA was detected only in the midgut gland, suggesting its function as a digestive enzyme. Cathepsin D2 mRNA was found in the midgut gland, gonads, and muscle. The deduced amino acid sequence of cathepsin D1 and cathepsin D2 possesses two catalytic DTG active-site motifs, the hallmark of aspartic proteinases. The putatively active cathepsin D1 has a molecular mass of 36.4 kDa and a calculated pI of 4.14 and possesses three potential glycosylation sites. The sequences showed highest similarities with cathepsin D from insects but also with another crustacean cathepsin D. Cathepsin D1 transcripts were quantified during a starvation period using real-time qPCR. In H. americanus, 15 days of starvation did not cause significant changes, but subsequent feeding caused a 2.5-fold increase. In H. gammarus, starvation caused a 40% reduction in cathepsin D1 mRNA, and no effect was observed with subsequent feeding.

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Acknowledgments

We thank M. Navarrete del Toro at CIBNOR for sharing knowledge and invaluable advice on the proteinase experiments and I. Fogel at CIBNOR for valuable comments on this manuscript. L.C.R.A. received a doctoral fellowship from CONACYT.

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  1. Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas del Noroeste (CIBNOR), Mar Bermejo 195, Col. Playa Palo de Santa Rita, La Paz, BCS, 23096, Mexico

    Liliana Rojo & Fernando García-Carreño

  2. Centro de Investigación en Alimentación y Desarrollo (CIAD), Carretera a la Victoria Km. 0.6, Hermosillo, Sonora, 83000, Mexico

    Adriana Muhlia-Almazan

  3. Alfred-Wegener-Institute für Polar- und Meeresforschung (AWI), Biologische Anstalt Helgoland, P. O. Box 180, 27483, Helgoland, Germany

    Reinhard Saborowski

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  1. Liliana Rojo
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  4. Fernando García-Carreño
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Correspondence to Fernando García-Carreño.

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Rojo, L., Muhlia-Almazan, A., Saborowski, R. et al. Aspartic Cathepsin D Endopeptidase Contributes to Extracellular Digestion in Clawed Lobsters Homarus americanus and Homarus gammarus . Mar Biotechnol 12, 696–707 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10126-010-9257-3

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