A novel effector caspase (Caspase-3/7-1) involved in the regulation of immune homeostasis in Chinese mitten crab Eriocheir sinensis

  • Fish Shellfish Immunol. 2018 Dec:83:76-83. doi: 10.1016/j.fsi.2018.09.013.
Chen Qu  1 ,  Wen Yang  2 ,  Qingsong Xu  2 ,  Jiejie Sun  2 ,  Mengmeng Lu  2 ,  Ying Wang  2 ,  Chao Liu  2 ,  Weilin Wang  2 ,  Lingling Wang  3 ,  Linsheng Song  4
Affiliations
  • 1. Liaoning Key Laboratory of Marine Animal Immunology, Dalian Ocean University, Dalian, 116023, China; Liaoning Key Laboratory of Marine Animal Immunology & Disease Control, Dalian Ocean University, Dalian, 116023, China.
  • 2. Liaoning Key Laboratory of Marine Animal Immunology, Dalian Ocean University, Dalian, 116023, China.
  • 3. Liaoning Key Laboratory of Marine Animal Immunology, Dalian Ocean University, Dalian, 116023, China; Laboratory of Marine Fisheries Science and Food Production Processes, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao, 266235, China.
  • 4. Liaoning Key Laboratory of Marine Animal Immunology, Dalian Ocean University, Dalian, 116023, China; Laboratory of Marine Fisheries Science and Food Production Processes, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao, 266235, China; Liaoning Key Laboratory of Marine Animal Immunology & Disease Control, Dalian Ocean University, Dalian, 116023, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
PMID: 30195917 DOI: 10.1016/j.fsi.2018.09.013
Abstract

Caspases are a conserved family of cysteine proteases characterized by specificity for aspartic acid and play an essential role in cell Apoptosis. In the present study, a novel effector Caspase (designated as EsCaspase-3/7-1) was identified from Chinese mitten crab Eriocheir sinensis. The open reading frame of EsCaspase-3/7-1 cDNA was of 972 bp, encoding a polypeptide of 323 Amino acids. EsCaspase-3/7-1 contained an N-terminal prodomain and a conservative C-terminal CASc domain, with the conserved active site "QACRG". The mRNA transcripts of EsCaspase-3/7-1 were constitutively expressed in all the examined tissues with high expression level in hemocytes, hepatopancreas and gill. The EsCaspase-3/7-1 protein was mainly distributed in the cytoplasm of hemocytes. After Aeromonas hydrophila and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulations, the mRNA expression level of EsCaspase-3/7-1 in hemocytes increased significantly. The mRNA expression level of EsCaspase-3/7-1 in hemocytes was significantly up-regulated after H2O2 treatment in vitro. The recombinant EsCaspase-3/7-1 protein (rEsCaspase-3/7-1) was capable of hydrolyzing the substrate Ac-DEVD-pNA rather than Ac-YVAD-pNA and Ac-VEID-pNA in vitro, and exhibited binding activity to LPS. These results demonstrated that EsCaspase-3/7-1 might act as an LPS receptor, and play an important role in the regulation of immune homeostasis of E. sinensis.

Keywords
Apoptosis; Caspase; Eriocheir sinensis; Immune homeostasis; LPS receptor.
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