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Screening Bioactive Nanoparticles in Phagocytic Immune Cells for Inhibitors of Toll-like Receptor Signaling
Published on: July 26, 2017
A molluscan TNF receptor-associated factor 2 (TRAF2) was involved in host defense against immune challenges
Fufa Qu1, Zhiming Xiang2, Yingli Zhou2
1Department of Biological and Environmental Engineering, Changsha University, Changsha 410022, China; Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Bio-resources and Ecology and Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Applied Marine Biology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510301, China; South China Sea Bio-Resource Exploitation and Utilization Collaborative Innovation Center, Guangzhou 510275, China.
Abstract:
Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) receptor-associated factor 2 (TRAF2) is a member of the TRAF superfamily that acted as a key signal transduction protein and has been implicated in inflammatory and apoptosis processes in mammals. However, identification of TRAF2s in invertebrates is very limited and its function, in particular that under immune challenges, is still unknown. In this report, a molluscan TRAF2 gene (referred to as AwTRAF2) was cloned and characterized from the freshwater bivalve, Anodonta woodiana. The open reading frame (ORF) of AwTRAF2 was 1683 bp in length, which encoded a putative 560 amino acid-protein. The deduced AwTRAF2 sequence shared similar structural characteristics and close evolutionary relationship with mollusk TRAF2s. The tissue-specific expression analysis revealed that AwTRAF2 mRNA was broadly expressed in all tested tissues, with high expression in gill and hepatopancreas. In addition, in vivo injection experiments directly showed that AwTRAF2 mRNA levels in hepatopancreas were significantly up-regulated in response to bacterial pathogen (Vibrio alginolyticus and Staphylococcus aureus) and PAMPs (Lipopolysaccharides and Peptidoglycan) challenges. Moreover, fluorescence microscopy observations revealed that AwTRAF2 was mainly located in cytoplasm of HEK293T cells and its overexpression significantly increased the transcriptional activities of the NF-κB-Luc reporter gene in HEK293T cells. Taken together, this study provided the experimental evidence of the presence of a functional TRAF2 in freshwater bivalves, which revealed its involvement in host response to immune challenges in A. woodiana.
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