Characterization and initial functional analysis of cathepsin K in turbot (Scophthalmus maximus L.)

Cathepsins are the best-known group of proteases in lysosomes, playing a significant role in immune responses. Cathepsin K (CTSK) is abundantly and selectively expressed in osteoclasts, dendritic cells and monocyte-derived macrophages, where it is involved in ECM degradation and bone remodeling. A growing body of evidences have indicated the vital roles of cathepsin K in innate immune responses. Here, one CTSK gene was captured in turbot (SmCTSK) with a 993 bp open reading frame (ORF). The genomic structure analysis showed that SmCTSK had 7 exons similar to other vertebrate species. The syntenic analysis revealed that CTSK had the same neighboring genes across all the selected species, which suggested the synteny encompassing CTSK region was conserved during vertebrate evolution. Subsequently, SmCTSK was widely expressed in all the examined tissues, with the highest expression level in spleen and the lowest expression level in liver. In addition, SmCTSK was significantly down-regulated in intestine following Gram-negative bacteria Vibrio anguillarum immersion challenge, but up-regulated in three tissues (gill, skin and intestine) following Gram-positive bacteria Streptococcus iniae immersion challenge. Finally, the rSmCTSK showed strong binding ability to all the examined microbial ligands. Taken together, our results suggested SmCTSK played vital roles in fish innate immune responses against infection. However, the knowledge of SmCTSK is still limited in teleost species, further studies should be carried out to better characterize its comprehensive roles in teleost mucosal immunity.