A cysteine protease (cathepsin Z) from disk abalone, Haliotis discus discus: Genomic characterization and transcriptional profiling during bacterial infections

Cathepsin Z (CTSZ) is lysosomal cysteine protease of the papain superfamily. It participates in the host immune defense via phagocytosis, signal transduction, cell-cell communication, proliferation, and migration of immune cells such as monocytes, macrophages, and dendritic cells. Hence, CTSZ is also acknowledged as an acute-phase protein in host immunity. In this study, we sought to identify the CTSZ homolog from disk abalone (AbCTSZ) and characterize it at the molecular, genomic, and transcriptional levels. AbCTSZ encodes a protein with 318 amino acids and a molecular mass of 36 kDa. The structure of AbCTSZ reveals amino acid sequences that are characteristic of the signal sequence, pro-peptide, peptidase-C1 papain family cysteine protease domain, mini-loop, HIP motif, N-linked glycosylation sites, active sites, and conserved Cys residues. A pairwise comparison revealed that AbCTSZ shared the highest amino acid homology with its molluscan counterpart from Crassostrea gigas. A multiple alignment analysis revealed the conservation of functionally crucial elements of AbCTSZ, and a phylogenetic study further confirmed a proximal evolutionary relationship with its invertebrate counterparts. Further, an analysis of AbCTSZ genomic structure revealed seven exons separated by six introns, which differs from that of its vertebrate counterparts. Quantitative real time PCR (qPCR) detected the transcripts of AbCTSZ in early developmental stages and in eight different tissues. Higher levels of AbCTSZ transcripts were found in trochophore, gill, and hemocytes, highlighting its importance in the early development and immunity of disk abalone. In addition, we found that viable bacteria (Vibrio parahaemolyticus and Listeria monocytogenes) and bacterial lipopolysaccharides significantly modulated AbCTSZ transcription. Collectively, these lines of evidences suggest that AbCTSZ plays an indispensable role in the innate immunity of disk abalone.