Expression profiles of carp IRF-3/-7 correlate with the up-regulation of RIG-I/MAVS/TRAF3/TBK1, four pivotal molecules in RIG-I signaling pathway

The cytoplasmic helicase protein RIG-I (retinoic acid-inducible gene I) and downstream signaling molecules, MAVS (mitochondrial antiviral signaling protein), TRAF3 (TNF-receptor-associated factor 3) and TBK1 (TANK-binding kinase 1), have significant roles in the recognition of cytoplasmic 5'-triphosphate ssRNA and short dsRNA, and phosphorylation of IRF-3 (interferon regulatory factor 3) and IRF-7 which is responsible for the induction of type I interferons (IFN). In the present study, the full-length cDNAs of RIG-I, MAVS, TRAF3 and TBK1 were cloned and identified in common carp (Cyprinus carpio L.). The deduced protein of carp RIG-I is of 946 aa (amino acids), consisting of two CARDs (caspase-recruitment domain), a DEXDc (DExD/H box-containing domain), a HELICc (helicase superfamily c-terminal domain) and a RD (regulatory domain). Carp MAVS is of 585 aa, containing a CARD, a proline-rich region and a TM (transmembrane domain). Carp TRAF3 encodes a protein of 573 aa, including a RING (really interesting new gene), two TRAF-type zinc fingers, a coiled coil and a MATH-TRAF3 (meprin and TRAF homology) domain. Carp TBK1 is of 727 aa and contains a S_TKc domain (Serine/Threonine protein kinases, catalytic domain). Carp RIG-I, MAVS, TRAF3 and TBK1 mRNAs are ubiquitously expressed in all tissues examined. In response to SVCV infection, carp RIG-I and MAVS mRNAs were up-regulated at different levels in spleen, head kidney and intestine tissues at different time points. Similarly, both carp IRF-3 and IRF-7 mRNAs were significantly up-regulated in the detected tissues. Especially in intestine, the IRF-3 and IRF-7 mRNAs of carp increased and reached 25.3-fold (at 3 dpi) and 224.7-fold (at 5 dpi). Noteworthily, a significant growth of carp TRAF3 and TBK1 mRNA was also mainly found in intestine (7.0-fold and 11.3-fold at 5 dpi, respectively). These data implied that the expression profiles of IRF-3/-7 mRNAs in carp correlate with the up-regulation of RIG-I/MAVS/TRAF3/TBK, and carp RIG-I and MAVS may be involved in antiviral responses through the RIG-I viral recognition signaling pathway in a TRAF3/TBK1-dependent manner.     

草鱼CD81基因的克隆及功能分析

为研究白细胞表面分化抗原81(CD81)的功能, 对草鱼CD81进行了克隆, CD81全长共1376 bp, 其中5'非翻译区87 bp, 3'非翻译区581 bp, 开放阅读框为708 bp, 包括8个外显子, 7个内含子, 编码235个氨基酸。实验采用实时荧光定量PCR的方法检测了CD81在健康草鱼不同组织中的表达情况及草鱼出血病病毒(GCRV)攻毒前后的表达变化情况。结果显示草鱼CD81在所有被检测组织中均有表达, 在头肾中表达量最高。在GCRV攻毒前后草鱼鳃、脾、肝、肠及头肾5个组织中的CD81表达量均有明显变化。同时, 采用绿色荧光蛋白(GFP)来示踪CD81的亚细胞表达部位, 激光共聚焦显微镜显示, 同人类一样, 草鱼CD81定位于细胞膜上。       

Murine ortholog of ASC, a CARD-containing protein, self-associates and exhibits restricted distribution in developing mouse embryos

ASC (apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing a CARD) was first identified as a cytosolic soluble protein that forms insoluble aggregates and enhances etoposide-induced apoptosis. We have cloned a murine ortholog of ASC (mASC) comprising 193 amino acids with a well-conserved pyrin N-terminal homology domain and caspase recruitment domain (CARD). mASC fused with green fluorescent protein appeared as a speck in transfected COS-7 cells and showed self-association. We analyzed mASC gene expression in developing embryos by in situ hybridization and found it to have a restricted distribution in mouse embryos. At E9.5, mASC was strongly expressed in the telencephalon, thalamic areas of the diencephalon, heart, and liver. Northern blotting analysis revealed that the mASC gene was expressed ubiquitously in multiple organs in adult mice. These findings indicate that mASC shows conservation of not only the primary structure of human ASC but also the ability to aggregate and has some similarity in its distribution to other CARD-containing molecules, including the apoptosis regulator Apaf-1.     

鲤鱼肝胰脏cDNA 文库的表达序列标签分析及Lb-Fabp mRNA的特征

本文构建了鲤鱼肝胰脏cDNA 文库,共获得了1016条有效的表达序列标签。拼接组装成115 个contigs和282 个singletons。其中215个拼接序列在GenBank公共数据库中寻找到相对应的基因。对它们进行功能性分类和比较分析为鲤鱼肝胰脏的研究提供了基因表达信息的基础。文库中1016条表达序列标签有11条代表了鲤鱼肝基本型脂肪酸结合蛋白(Lb-FABP)。通过序列比较我们获得了两个具有相同开放阅读框长度的Lb-Fabp cDNAs。开放阅读框全长381bp,编码126个氨基酸。半定量RT-PCR结合Southern blot技术研究了Lb-Fabp mRNA 在成鱼不同组织以及早期发育不同时期的表达图式。结果表明,Lb-Fabp mRNA 在肝胰脏、中肠和后肠中表达量较高。同时在精巢和皮肤中有低水平的表达。脑、肌肉、卵巢、肾脏、脾脏、鳃和心脏等组织中其表达量更低。而在脂肪和前肠中则没有检测到Lb-FabpmRNA表达。Lb-Fabp mRNA 最早在胚体形成期检测到有低水平表达,随后的发育阶段中表达量逐渐升高。鲤鱼Lb-Fabp基因的表达图式提示在肝脏和肠等器官开始发育后,它可能在脂肪代谢中具有重要作用。     

草鱼和翘嘴鲌fgfrhl-1基因的克隆和表达分析

成纤维细胞生长因子受体同源类似物1(fgfrhl-1)基因是目前仅在鱼类基因组中检测到的fgfr基因家族成员, 该序列在鱼类进化过程中高度保守。为研究fgfrhl-1基因的表达情况和具体的功能, 在亲缘关系较远的草鱼(Ctenopharyngodon idellus)和翘嘴鲌(Culter alburnus Basilewsky)中克隆了fgfrhl-1的cDNA序列, 并通过半定量RT-PCR和冰冻切片原位杂交分析了该基因在成体不同组织中的表达情况。克隆结果的序列分析表明: 草鱼fgfrhl-1 cDNA序列全长为1472 bp, 5′-UTR长213 bp, 3′-UTR长56 bp, 开放阅读框长1203 bp; 翘嘴鲌fgfrhl-1 cDNA序列全长为1886 bp, 5′-UTR长298 bp, 3′-UTR长385 bp, 开放阅读框长1203 bp。在两种鱼类中该基因都编码400个氨基酸, 其预测的氨基酸序列同源性高达95.5%。蛋白二级结构预测表明Fgfrhl-1具有FGFRs家族蛋白的胞内酪氨酸激酶区, 跨膜的螺旋区和胞外配体识别结合区, 但其胞外区比FGFRs缺少了3个免疫球蛋白样结构域。通过RT-PCR方法在两种鱼类的心脏、鳃、肝、脾、尾鳍以及肌肉组织的肌间隔中均检测到了fgfrhl-1表达, 但在肌纤维中均没有检测到其表达。对这两种鱼类的肌肉组织、肝脏和脾脏进行的组织切片原位杂交表明fgfrhl-1只在这些组织和器官的结缔组织及导管中表达, 不在间质细胞结构中表达。这些结果说明: fgfrhl-1的成体组织特异性表达模式在不同鱼类中基本一致, fgfrhl-1在鱼类各组织和器官的结缔组织和导管的细胞中表达, 不在间质细胞中表达。因此, fgfrhl-1可能在鱼类结缔组织及导管分化调控或功能维持中有独特作用。     

赤眼鳟Mx1基因的cDNA克隆及表达特性

为探究赤眼鳟(Squaliobarbus curriculus)是否存在Mx1 (Myxovirus resistance)基因及参与抗病毒免疫反应, 研究利用RACE技术获得了赤眼鳟Mx1基因(ScMx1)的cDNA全长序列, 并对其进行了生物信息学分析; 采用荧光定量PCR技术, 检测了ScMx1在赤眼鳟健康组织中的表达情况以及感染GCRV后ScMx1和ScIFN-Ⅰ的表达特征。结果表明, ScMx1的cDNA全长为3000 bp, 包含5′非编码区124 bp, 开放阅读框1893 bp, 3′非编码区983 bp, 共编码630个氨基酸。预测的ScMx1蛋白包含GTP酶结合区域、中央核心结构域和GTP酶效应结构域。ScMx1与青鱼Mx1的相似性最高(97%), 与ScMx的相似性仅为50%。ScMx1在所检测的10种组织中均有表达, 其中在脾脏中表达量最高。经GCRV感染开始至168h, ScMx1和ScIFN-Ⅰ在肝脏和体肾中的表达量持续上调; 在脾脏和头肾中于感染后72h达到峰值。相关性分析显示脾脏中ScMx1和ScIFN-Ⅰ的表达水平呈显著相关(r=0.94, P=0.018)。研究发现赤眼鳟存在Mx1基因, 且可能参与了抗GCRV免疫应答反应。     

Molecular cloning and characterization of common carp (Cyprinus carpio L.) TCRgamma and CD3gamma/delta chains

Partial cDNA sequences of TCRgamma and CD3gamma/delta were isolated from the thymus of common carp (Cyprinus carpio L.) by the method of suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH). Subsequently the full length cDNAs of carp TCRgamma and CD3gamma/delta were obtained by means of 3' RACE and 5' RACE, respectively. The full length of carp TCRgamma chain is 1368bp and encodes 326 amino acids including a signal peptide region of 19 amino acids and a transmembrane region of 23 amino acids at the C-terminal region from aa 291 to 313. The V region of carp TCRgamma contains 109 amino acids, the core motif FGXG in J segment was also found in carp TCRgamma. The C region of carp TCRgamma contains the characteristic CX6PX6WX45C motif. The CP region of carp TCR Cgamma contains 37 amino acids. The full length of carp CD3gamma/delta is 790bp and encodes 175 amino acids including a signal peptide region of 17 amino acids and a transmembrane region of 23 amino acids from aa 93 to 115. Similar to other known CD3gamma/deltas, four cysteine residues in the extracellular domain and an immunoreceptor tyrosine-based activation motif ITAM (YxxL/Ix6-8YxxL/I) in the intracellular domain are also included in carp CD3gamma/delta. Differing from other known CD3gamma/deltas, carp CD3gamma/delta lacks the CXXCXE motif in the extracellular domain. RT-PCR analysis demonstrated that the expression of TCRgamma gene was mainly in the thymus and gill of 6-month carp, but in 18-month carp, TCRgamma gene was detected in all the examined tissues. The expression of CD3gamma/delta gene was detected in all examined tissues of 6 and 18-month carp; among them, the highest expression level was in the thymus of 6-month carp. In situ hybridization showed that CD3gamma/delta-expressing cells were widely distributed in the head kidney, spleen and kidney of carp, whereas in the thymus, they were densely distributed in the lymphoid outer zone and scattered in the epithelioid inner zone.     

草鱼免疫相关基因Prkrip1的克隆和表达分析

随着草鱼养殖规模的扩大, 草鱼的病毒性疾病极大地影响着草鱼的产量。开展鱼类病毒免疫反应相关功能基因的研究意义重大。研究首先通过同源克隆的方法从草鱼中克隆到了一段Prkrip1基因的EST序列, 进一步通过RACE、长片段PCR和Genome walking的方法获得了该基因的全长cDNA序列、基因组DNA序列和启动子区序列。氨基酸序列分析显示, Prkrip1含有3个核定位信号和一个双链RNA结合区, 并具有与PKR结合的保守N端区; 荧光报告基因的表达证实我们所克隆到的启动子区是有活性的, 可用于后续该基因的转录调控分析; Real-time PCR分析发现, Prkrip1 基因在草鱼的肝和血中表达量最高, GCRV感染后在大部分免疫组织中均上调表达, 说明该基因确实与病毒感染相关。研究结果为Prkrip1基因在硬骨鱼类的功能研究提供了线索, 也为鱼类天然免疫反应中调控PKR信号通路的系统研究提供了理论依据。       

Mechanistic target of rapamycin in common carp: cDNA cloning,characterization, and tissue expression

The mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) plays a key role in growth and development. In the present study, a cDNA encoding mTOR protein was identified from common carp Cyprinus carpio muscle. The open reading frame of this cDNA encodes 2515 deduced amino acid residues that showed high sequence similarity with its zebrafish Danio rerio counterparts. Bioinformatic analysis showed that the protein belongs to the PI-3 kinase family. The putative protein has FAT, FRB, PI3Kc, and FATC domains, which are highly conserved among the vertebrate orthologs. Real-time quantitative PCR analysis revealed that the abundance of mTOR mRNA was the highest in the heart at 18–31 g and muscle at 31–75 g of common carp. As the common carp grew (18–40 g), the mTOR expression gradually decreased in the hepatopancreas and heart, but increased in the muscle, hind kidney, spleen, gill, head kidney, foregut, midgut, and hindgut. Then the mTOR expression kept a constant in all examined tissues during the common carp grew (40–75 g). The present study identified the mTOR gene and determined its gene expression profile in various tissues of the common carp with body weight increased. These findings will help better understand the biological role of mTOR in the juvenile fish.