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Chitin Organizing and Modifying Enzymes and Proteins Involved In Remodeling of the Insect Cuticle

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Targeting Chitin-containing Organisms

Part of the book series: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology ((AEMB,volume 1142))

Abstract

Chitin, the extracellular matrix polysaccharide of insects and arthropods is widely distributed in nature in all kingdoms of life and serves a variety of functions. After synthesis by membrane-bound chitin synthases, it is extensively remodeled before incorporation into divergent matrices with wide-ranging physical and biological properties. This chapter discusses the properties of a variety of insect enzymes and proteins involved in this process. Chitin remodeling involves chitin synthases, which make the nascent chitin chains, and chitin deacetylases that partially deacetylate some of the N-acetylglucosamine residues either randomly or sequentially to yield local chitosan-like regions. Other proteins secreted into the procuticle or the midgut help in the assembly of single chitin chains into larger crystalline aggregates that measure in a few 100 nanometers. They are further embedded in a complex matrix of cuticular proteins or become associated with proteins containing chitin-binding domains to constitute the laminar procuticle or the lattice-like peritrophic matrix. During molting, previously formed laminar cuticle or PM are decrystallized/depolymerized to unmask the chitin chains, which then are degraded by a mixture of chitinolytic enzymes consisting of chitinases and N-acetylglucosaminidases present in molting fluid or in gut secretions. Some of the degradation products may be recycled for the synthesis of new matrices. We present a model of chitin synthesis, assembly, and degradation and the roles of these chitin-remodeling enzymes in this overall process.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Korea government (MSIT) (2018R1A2B6005106) to YA.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, 66503, USA

    Subbaratnam Muthukrishnan

  2. Institute of Biology, University of Siegen, 57076, Siegen, Germany

    Hans Merzendorfer

  3. Department of Applied Biology, Chonnam National University, Gwangju, 500-757, South Korea

    Yasuyuki Arakane

  4. School of Bioengineering, Dalian University of Technology, No. 2 Linggong Road, Dalian, 116023, China

    Qing Yang

Authors
  1. Subbaratnam Muthukrishnan
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  2. Hans Merzendorfer
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  3. Yasuyuki Arakane
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  4. Qing Yang
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Subbaratnam Muthukrishnan .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. State Laboratory of Biology for Plant Diseases and Insect Pests, Institute of Plant Protection at Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China

    Qing Yang

  2. Biochemistry−Electrochemistry Research Unit, Institute of Science, Suranaree University of Technology, Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand

    Tamo Fukamizo

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Muthukrishnan, S., Merzendorfer, H., Arakane, Y., Yang, Q. (2019). Chitin Organizing and Modifying Enzymes and Proteins Involved In Remodeling of the Insect Cuticle. In: Yang, Q., Fukamizo, T. (eds) Targeting Chitin-containing Organisms. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 1142. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-7318-3_5

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