Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Molecular cloning and characterization of Hearm caspase-1 from Helicoverpa armigera

  • Published:
Molecular Biology Reports Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Members of the caspase family play a central and evolutionary role in programmed cell death (PCD), which removes unwanted, damaged and dangerous cells during development to maintain homeostasis. In this paper, we describe the cloning and characterization of a caspase from the cotton bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera, named Hearm caspase-1. The 1,350 bp full-length cDNA contains an 885 bp open reading frame (ORF) that encodes a Hearm caspase-1 proenzyme of 294 amino acids. The deduced protein is highly homologous to Spodoptera frugiperda Sf caspase-1 and Drosophila melanogaster ICE and has the highly conserved pentapeptide QACQG, the recognized catalytic site of caspases, suggesting that it is an effector caspase of the cotton bollworm. Northern blot and RT-PCR analyses demonstrate that Hearm caspase-1 is expressed in embryos and the fat body, midgut and haemocytes of feeding and wandering larvae. Expression of Hearm caspase-1 in the haemocytes appears to be correlated with the pulse of ecdysone, and it is up-regulated by ecdysone agonist RH-2485, implying that Hearm caspase-1 activation is regulated by ecdysone.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Lockshin RA, Zakeri Z (2001) Programmed cell death and apoptosis: origins of the theory. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 2:545–550

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Zakeri Z, Lockshin RA (2002) Cell death during development. J Immunol Methods 265:3–20

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Degterev A, Boyce M, Yuan J (2003) A decade of caspases. Oncogene 22:8543–8567

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Kumar S, Cakouros D (2004) Transcriptional control of the core cell-death machinery. Trends Biochem Sci 29:193–199

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Manzoor Ahmad, Srinivasula SM, Wang L, Litwack G, Fernandes-Alnemri T., Alnemri ES (1997) Spodoptera frugiperda Caspase-1, a novel insect death protease that cleaves the nuclear immunophilin FKBP46, is the target of the baculovirus antiapoptotic protein p35. J Biol Chem 272:1421–1424

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Cohen GM (1999) Caspases: the executioners of apoptosis. Biochem J 326:1–16

    Google Scholar 

  7. Kumar S, Doumanis J (2000) The fly caspases. Cell Death Differ 7:1039–1044

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Pei Z, Reske G, Huang Q, Hammock BD, Qi Y, Chejanovsky N (2002) Characterization of the apoptosis suppressor protein P49 from the Spodoptera littoralis nucleopolyhedrovirus. J Biol Chem 277:677–684

    Google Scholar 

  9. Fernandes-Alnemri T, Litwack G, Alnemri ES (1994) CPP32, a novel human apoptotic protein with homology to Caenorhabditis elegans cell death protein Ced-3 and mammalian interleukin-lβ-converting Enzyme. J Biol Chem 269:49–53

    Google Scholar 

  10. Fernandes-Alnemri T, Armstrong R, Krebs J (1996) In vitro activation of CPP32 and Mch3 by Mch4, a novel human apoptotic cysteine protease containing two FADD-like domains. Proc Natl Acad Sci 93:7464–7469

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Fraser AG, Evan GI (1997) Identification of a Drosophila melanogaster ICE/CED-3-related protease, drICE. EMBO 16:2805–2813

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Dorstyn L, Colussi PA, Quinn LM, Richardson H, Kumar S (1999) DRONC, an ecdysone-inducible Drosophila caspase. Proc Natl Acad Sci 13:4307–4312

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Baehrecke EH (2002) How death shapes life during development. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 3:779–787

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Truman JW, Riddiford LM (2002) Endocrine insights into the evolution of metamorphosis in insects. Annu Rev Entomol 47:467–500

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Cakouros D, Daish T, Martin D, Baehrecke EH, Kumar S (2002) Ecdysone-induced expression of the caspase DRONC during hormone-dependent programmed cell death in Drosophila is regulated by Broad-Complex. J Cell Biol 157:985–995

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Kilpatrick ZE, Cakouros D, Kumar S (2005) Ecdysone-mediated up-regulation of the effector caspase DRICE is required for hormone-dependent apoptosis in Drosophila cells. J Biol Chem 280:981–986

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Zhao XF, Wang JX, Wang YC (1998). Purification and characterization of a cysteine proteinase from eggs of the cotton boll worm, Helicoverpa armigera. Insect Biochem Mol Biol 28:259–264

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Du XJ, Wang JX, Liu N, Zhao XF, Li FH, Xiang JH (2006) Identification and molecular characterization of a peritrophin-like protein from fleshy prawn (Fenneropenaeus chinensis). Mol Immunol 43:1633–1644

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Zhao XF, Wang JX, Xu XL, Schmid R, Wieczorek H (2002) Molecular cloning and characterization of cathepsin B-like proteinase from the cotton boll worm Helicoverpa armigera. Insect Mol Biol 11:567–575

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Kang CJ, Wang JX, Zhao XF, Yang XM, Shao HL, Xiang JH (2004) Molecular cloning and expression analysis of ch-penaeidin, a antimicrobial peptide from Chinese shrimp, Fenneropenaeus Chinensis. Fish Shellfish Immunol 16:513–525

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Nicholson DW (1999) Caspase structure, proteolytic substrates, and function during apoptotic cell death. Cell Death Differ 6:1028–1042

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Arbeitman MN, Furlong EE, Imam F, Johnson E, Null BH, Baker BS, Krasnow MA, Scott MP, Davis RW, White KP (2002) Gene expression during the lifecycle of Drosophila melanogaster. Science 297:2270–2275

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Muro I, Berry DL, Huh JR, Chen CH, Huang H, Yoo SJ, Guo M, Baehrecke EH, Hay BA (2006) The Drosophila caspase Ice is important for many apoptotic cell deaths and for spermatid individualization, a nonapoptotic process. Development 133:3305–3315

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Zhou L, Schnitzler A, Agapite J, Schwartz LM, Steller H, Nambu JR (1997) Cooperative functions of the reaper and head involution defective genes in the programmed cell death of Drosophila central nervous system midline cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci 94:5131–5136

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Yang XM, Hou LJ, Wang JX, Zhao XF (2007) Expression and function of Cathepsin B-like proteinase in larval hemocytes of Helicorverpa armigera during metamorphosis. Arch Insect Biochem Physiol 64:164–174

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Jiang C, Lamblin AF, Steller H, Thummel CS (2000) A steroid-triggered transcriptional hierarchy controls salivary gland cell death during Drosophila metamorphosis. Mol Cell 5:445–455

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Lee CY, Cooksey BA, Baehrecke EH (2002) Steroid regulation of midgut cell death during Drosophila development. Dev Biol 250:101–111

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Muller F, Adori C, Sass M (2004) Autophagic and apoptotic features during programmed cell death in the fat body of the tobacco hornworm (Manduca sexta). Eur J Cell Biol 83:67–78

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Yang XM, Hou LJ, Dong DJ, Shao HL, Wang JX, Zhao XF (2006) Cathepsin B-like proteinase is involved in the decomposition of the adult fat body of Helicoverpa armigera. Arch Insect Biochem Physiol 62:1–10

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Xu YS, Kawasaki H (2001) Isolation and expression of cathepsin B cDNA in hemocytes during metamorphosis of Bombyx mori. Comp Biochem Physiol B 130:393–399

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. Thummel CS (2001) Steroid-triggered death by autophagy. BioEssays 23:677–682

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. Riddiford LY, Hiruma K, Zhou X, Nelson CA (2003) Insights into the molecular basis of the hormonal control of molting and metamorphosis from Manduca sexta and Drosophlia melanogaster. Insect Biochem Mol Biol 33:1327–1338

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  33. Dhadialla TS, Carlson GR, Le DP (1998) New insecticides with ecdysteroidal and juvenile hormone activity. Annu Rev Entomol 43:545–569

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  34. Yin VP, Thummel CS (2005) Mechanisms of steroid-triggered programmed cell death in Drosophila. Semin Cell Dev Biol 16:237–243

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No: 30330070, 30670265) and the Special Fund for the Major State Basic Research Project (2006CB102001).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Life Sciences, Shandong University, Jinan, 250100, China

    Dantong Yang, Lianqin Chai, Jinxing Wang & Xiaofan Zhao

  2. Shandong Institution of Family Planning, Jinan, 250002, China

    Dantong Yang

Authors
  1. Dantong Yang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Lianqin Chai
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Jinxing Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Xiaofan Zhao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Xiaofan Zhao.

Additional information

The nucleotide sequence reported in this paper has been submitted to GenBank with accession number EF190236.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Yang, D., Chai, L., Wang, J. et al. Molecular cloning and characterization of Hearm caspase-1 from Helicoverpa armigera . Mol Biol Rep 35, 405–412 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-007-9100-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-007-9100-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation