Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 11, 2026

Evaluation of Caspase Activation to Assess Innate Immune Cell Death
10:23

Evaluation of Caspase Activation to Assess Innate Immune Cell Death

Published on: January 20, 2023

Penaeus monodon caspase is targeted by a white spot syndrome virus anti-apoptosis protein

Jiann-Horng Leu1, Hao-Ching Wang, Guang-Hsiung Kou

  • 1Institute of Zoology, National Taiwan University, Taipei 10617, Taiwan, ROC.

Developmental and Comparative Immunology
|October 2, 2007
PubMed

Insights

We identified and characterized Pm caspase, a key apoptosis-mediating protein in shrimp. This shrimp caspase, Pm caspase, was shown to induce apoptosis and inhibit viral proteins during white spot syndrome virus infection.

Area of Science:

  • Molecular Biology
  • Cell Biology
  • Biochemistry

Background:

  • Caspases are crucial for apoptosis, a fundamental biological process.
  • Understanding caspase function in invertebrates like shrimp is vital for disease research.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To clone and characterize a novel caspase, Pm caspase, from the shrimp Penaeus monodon.
  • To investigate the role of Pm caspase in apoptosis and its interaction with white spot syndrome virus (WSSV).

Main Methods:

  • Cloning and sequencing of Pm caspase cDNA.
  • Overexpression of Pm caspase in SF-9 cells to observe apoptotic effects.
  • Assessing caspase-3 activity of recombinant Pm caspase.
  • Analyzing Pm caspase and PmIAP gene expression via RT-PCR and qRT-PCR after WSSV infection.
  • Investigating the inhibitory effect of WSSV449 on Pm caspase activity.

Main Results:

  • The full-length Pm caspase cDNA (1386 bp) encodes a 304-amino acid protein (34.3 kDa) similar to insect effector caspases.
  • Overexpression of Pm caspase induced apoptotic morphological features and DNA laddering in SF-9 cells.
  • Pm caspase exhibited caspase-3 activity.
  • WSSV infection did not alter the RNA levels of Pm caspase or P. monodon inhibitor of apoptosis protein (PmIAP).
  • WSSV449, a viral protein, was identified as a direct inhibitor of Pm caspase.

Conclusions:

  • Pm caspase is a functional caspase involved in apoptosis in Penaeus monodon.
  • Pm caspase plays a role in the shrimp's response to WSSV infection.
  • WSSV449 effectively inhibits Pm caspase, suggesting a viral strategy to evade host apoptosis.

More Related Videos

Analysis of Apoptosis in Zebrafish Embryos by Whole-mount Immunofluorescence to Detect Activated Caspase 308:20

Analysis of Apoptosis in Zebrafish Embryos by Whole-mount Immunofluorescence to Detect Activated Caspase 3

Published on: December 20, 2013

Identifying Caspases and their Motifs that Cleave Proteins During Influenza A Virus Infection08:16

Identifying Caspases and their Motifs that Cleave Proteins During Influenza A Virus Infection

Published on: July 21, 2022

Related Concept Videos

Caspases01:24

Caspases

Caspase, a family of cysteine proteases, serve as effectors in apoptosis. The ced3 gene in C.elegans was first identified to be involved in apoptosis. This gene encodes the ced-3 caspase that is similar to the interleukin-1-beta converting enzyme or ICE in mammals. In addition to apoptosis, caspases also function in the inflammatory response. Inflammatory caspases are essential in activating pro-inflammatory cytokines that recruit immune cells and block the replication of pathogens inside cells.
Leaky Scanning02:28

Leaky Scanning

During most eukaryotic translation processes, the small 40S ribosome subunit scans an mRNA from its 5' end until it encounters the first start AUG codon. The large 60S ribosomal subunit then joins the smaller one to initiate protein synthesis. The location of the translation initiation is largely determined by the nucleotides near the start codon as there may be multiple translation initiation sites present on the mRNA.  Marilyn Kozak discovered that the sequence RCCAUGG (where R stands for...