Acta Parasitologica, Vol. 50, No. 3, 2005, 244-248 Salih Kuk(1), Mustafa Kaplan(1)*, Aykut Ozdarendeli(2), Sukru Tonbak(2), Suleyman Felek(3) and Ahmet Kalkan(3) - Fasciola hepatica cathepsin L1 from a Turkish isolate is related to Asiatic isolates
(1)Department of Medical Parasitology, (2)Department of Virology, Faculty of Veterinary, (3)Infectious Disease and Clinical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Firat University, TR23119 Elazig; Turkey
*Corresponding author: mkaplan101@yahoo.com
ABSTRACT
Cathepsin L1 (CatL1) is one of the major molecules in the excretory-secretory products of Fasciola hepatica and is secreted by all stages of the developing parasite; it is involved in tissue penetration, immune evasion, feeding and pathogenesis. Our aim in this study was to clone and characterise the F. hepatica CatL1 gene from a Turkish isolate. This is the first report of cDNA encoding CatL1 protein of F. hepatica from a Turkish isolate. Phylogenetic analysis based on the CatL1 showed that the Turkish
isolate is genetically related to Asiatic isolates. The cathepsin L1 gene may be used for DNA vaccination and recombinant protein derived from the gene can be used for serological diagnosis against F. hepatica in Turkey.
KEY WORDS: Fasciola hepatica, cathepsin L1, cloning, sequencing, phylogenetic analysis