Should the enzyme name ‘rhodesain’ be discontinued?

Steverding, Dietmar and Caffrey, Conor R. (2021) Should the enzyme name ‘rhodesain’ be discontinued? Molecular and Biochemical Parasitology, 245. ISSN 0166-6851

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Abstract

Rhodesain is the generic name for the cathepsin L-like peptidase of Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense. The term rhodesain was derived from the subspecies epithet rhodesiense which itself originated form Rhodesia, a historical region in southern Africa named after the 19th century British imperialist and white supremacist Cecil Rhodes. This tainting could be grounds for discontinuing the name, however, there are also scientific grounds. Specifically, protein sequence comparisons and frequency-based difference profiling reveal that rhodesain is essentially identical (99.87-98.44%) to the cathepsin L-like peptidases of both T. b. brucei and T. b. gambiense. Accordingly, and based on a previously proposed terminology for kinetoplastid C1 peptidases (Caffrey and Steverding, 2009), we suggest the use of the formal term, TbrCATL, to denote the cathepsin L-like peptidases of the T. brucei subspecies. The earlier and informal term, ‘brucipain’, could also be used.

Item Type:	Article
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Norwich Medical School
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Groups > Gastroenterology and Gut Biology
Depositing User:	LivePure Connector
Date Deposited:	14 Jul 2021 00:28
Last Modified:	23 Oct 2022 02:37
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/80543
DOI:	10.1016/j.molbiopara.2021.111395

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