miR-137 modulates coelomocyte apoptosis by targeting 14-3-3ζ in the sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus

Study on the mechanism of miR-7562 regulating ATG5 and ATG12 genes in Penaeus monodon under Vibrio harveyi infection

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play a fundamental role in the post-transcriptional regulation of genes and are pivotal in modulating immune responses in marine species, particularly during pathogen assaults. This study focused on the function of miR-7562 and its regulatory effects on autophagy against Vibrio harveyi infection in the black tiger shrimp (Penaeus monodon), an economically important aquatic species. We successfully cloned and characterized two essential autophagy-related genes (ATGs) from P. monodon, PmATG5 and PmATG12, and then identified the miRNAs potentially involved in co-regulating these genes, which were notably miR-7562, miR-8485, and miR-278. Subsequent bacterial challenge experiments and dual-luciferase reporter assays identified miR-7562 as the principal regulator of both genes, particularly by targeting the 3'UTR of each gene. By manipulating the in vivo levels of miR-7562 using mimics and antagomirs, we found significant differences in the expression of PmATG5 and PmATG12, which corresponded to alterations in autophagic activity. Notably, miR-7562 overexpression resulted in the downregulation of PmATG5 and PmATG12, leading to a subdued autophagic response. Conversely, miR-7562 knockdown elevated the expression levels of these genes, thereby enhancing autophagic activity. Our findings further revealed that during V. harveyi infection, miR-7562 continued to influence the autophagic pathway by specifically targeting the ATG5-ATG12 complex. This research not only sheds light on the miRNA-dependent mechanisms governing autophagic immunity in shrimp but also proposes miR-7562 as a promising target for therapeutic strategies intended to strengthen disease resistance within the crustacean aquaculture industry.

Akirin2 enhances antibacterial ability via interacting with 14-3-3ζ in V. splendidus-challenged Apostichopus japonicus

Akirin2 is pivotal for regulating host immunological responses in vertebrates, including antibacterial immunity and inflammation. However, the functional significance of Akirin2 in invertebrates remains largely unexplored. In this study, we cloned the complete cDNA sequence of Akirin2 from A. japonicus (AjAkirin2) and elucidated its immunological mechanism upon pathogen infection. The whole AjAkirin2 cDNA sequence spanned 1014 bp, which comprised a 630 bp open reading frame encoding 209 amino acids, a 230 bp 5'-untranslated region (UTR), and a 154 bp 3'-UTR. Spatial expression analysis displayed constitutive expression of AjAkirin2 in all examined tissues. Both mRNA and protein expression abundance of the AjAkirin2 showed considerably high in coelomocytes of sea cucumbers challenged with Vibrio splendidus or stimulated with lipopolysaccharide. In addition, we found that sea cucumbers with 107 CFU/mL V. splendidus infection had a lower survival rate upon AjAkirin2 knockdown. Mechanistically, the result of GST-pull down and co-IP assays indicated that AjAkirin2 directly interacted with Aj14-3-3ζ. Moreover, we also detected that AjAkirin2 positively regulated Aj14-3-3ζ expression in sea cucumber coelomocytes. Furthermore, the knockdown of AjAkirin2 or Aj14-3-3ζ resulted in increasing intracellular bacteria load and suppressed the expression of key genes of the NF-κB signaling pathway (p65 and p105) and inflammatory cytokines including IL-17, VEGF, and MMP-1. In summary, these results confirmed the critical role of AjAkirin2 in mediating innate immune responses against V. splendidus infection via interaction with Aj14-3-3ζ and thereby exerting antibacterial function.

Identification and functional characterization of a novel TRPA1 gene from sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus and interaction with miR-2013 in response to salt stress

Salinity is important abiotic factor influencing sea cucumber aquaculture. This study aimed to identify and functional study of a novel transient receptor potential cation channel subfamily A member 1 (TRPA1) involved in salinity stress through interaction with miR-2013 in the sea cucumber. The full-length cDNA sequence was 1369 bp in length and encoded 138 amino acids. The TRPA1 homolog protein was a hydrophilic protein without a signal peptide and was predicted to a spatial structure of seven helices and eight random coils and two major ANK functional domains. Bioinformatic analysis and luciferase reporter assays confirmed TRPA1 as a target gene of miR-2013. Quantitative PCR revealed that miR-2013 was induced upregulation after salinity stress, while TRPA1 showed upregulated expression with maximum expression at 24 h. The expression of miR-2013 and TRPA1 was negatively regulated. Transfection experiments were conducted to validate the role of miR-2013 and TRPA1 in salinity response. The results showed that miR-2013 was upregulated and TRPA1 was downregulated after transfection with miR-2013 mimics, while miR-2013 was downregulated and TRPA1 was upregulated after transfection with miR-2013 inhibitor. Transfection with si-TRPA1 homolog resulted in upregulation of miR-2013 and downregulation of TRPA1 homolog. These findings suggest that miR-2013 can regulate the expression of TRPA1 under salt stress, and highlight the importance of miR-2013 and TRPA1 in salt stress response. miR-2013 mimics improved the survival rate, while miR-2013 inhibitor and si-TRPA1 reduced it. These findings suggest that miR-2013 and TRPA1 play important roles in sea cucumbers adaptation to salinity changes.

Novel secreted STPKLRR from Vibrio splendidus AJ01 promotes pathogen internalization via mediating tropomodulin phosphorylation dependent cytoskeleton rearrangement

We previously demonstrated that the flagellin of intracellular Vibrio splendidus AJ01 could be specifically identified by tropomodulin (Tmod) and further mediate p53-dependent coelomocyte apoptosis in the sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus. In higher animals, Tmod serves as a regulator in stabilizing the actin cytoskeleton. However, the mechanism on how AJ01 breaks the AjTmod-stabilized cytoskeleton for internalization remains unclear. Here, we identified a novel AJ01 Type III secretion system (T3SS) effector of leucine-rich repeat-containing serine/threonine-protein kinase (STPKLRR) with five LRR domains and a serine/threonine kinase (STYKc) domain, which could specifically interact with tropomodulin domain of AjTmod. Furthermore, we found that STPKLRR directly phosphorylated AjTmod at serine 52 (S52) to reduce the binding stability between AjTmod and actin. After AjTmod dissociated from actin, the F-actin/G-actin ratio decreased to induce cytoskeletal rearrangement, which in turn promoted the internalization of AJ01. The STPKLRR knocked out strain could not phosphorylated AjTmod and displayed lower internalization capacity and pathogenic effect compared to AJ01. Overall, we demonstrated for the first time that the T3SS effector STPKLRR with kinase activity was a novel virulence factor in Vibrio and mediated self-internalization by targeting host AjTmod phosphorylation dependent cytoskeleton rearrangement, which provided a candidate target to control AJ01 infection in practice.

Vibrio splendidus flagellin C binds tropomodulin to induce p38 MAPK-mediated p53-dependent coelomocyte apoptosis in Echinodermata

As a typical pathogen-associated molecular pattern, bacterial flagellin can bind Toll-like receptor 5 and the intracellular NAIP5 receptor component of the NLRC4 inflammasome to induce immune responses in mammals. However, these flagellin receptors are generally poorly understood in lower animal species. In this study, we found that the isolated flagellum of Vibrio splendidus AJ01 destroyed the integrity of the tissue structure of coelomocytes and promoted apoptosis in the sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus. To further investigate the molecular mechanism, the novel intracellular LRR domain-containing protein tropomodulin (AjTmod) was identified as a protein that interacts with flagellin C (FliC) with a dissociation constant (K_d) of 0.0086 ± 0.33 μM by microscale thermophoresis assay. We show that knockdown of AjTmod also depressed FliC-induced apoptosis of coelomocytes. Further functional analysis with different inhibitor treatments revealed that the interaction between AjTmod and FliC could specifically activate p38 MAPK, but not JNK or ERK MAP kinases. We demonstrate that the transcription factor p38 is then translocated into the nucleus, where it mediates the expression of p53 to induce coelomocyte apoptosis. Our findings provide the first evidence that intracellular AjTmod serves as a novel receptor of FliC and mediates p53-dependent coelomocyte apoptosis by activating the p38 MAPK signaling pathway in Echinodermata.

14-3-3ζ and 14-3-3ε are involved in innate immune responses in Pacific abalone (Haliotis discus hannai)

The 14-3-3 proteins play important roles in various cellular processes by binding to different ligands, but little is known about these proteins in mollusks. In this study, two 14-3-3 cDNAs were identified from the Pacific abalone Haliotis discus hannai (designated 14-3-3ζ and 14-3-3ε), possessing 59.40% identity with each other. Both genes were predominantly expressed in the gills of unchallenged abalones, and their mRNA signals could also be detected in several other tissues, including the mantle, hepatopancreas and ovary. However, after Vibrio harveyi challenge, hemocytes were induced significantly (p < 0.01). Meanwhile, phagocytosis was inhibited, but apoptosis, reactive oxygen species formation, and caspase 3 expression were significantly induced (p < 0.01), and they were all suppressed with 14-3-3ζ knockdown (p < 0.01). The differences were that silencing 14-3-3ε reverted the decline in the phagocytic rate derived from bacterial infection, while ROS formation was not influenced significantly. In addition, the expression levels of several antimicrobial peptide and proinflammatory cytokine genes were also decreased with the silencing of 14-3-3 genes. However, with the knockdown of 14-3-3ζ, the expression of 14-3-3ε was further significantly increased (p < 0.01), and vice versa. Overall, our results suggested that 14-3-3ζ and 14-3-3ε should play important roles in innate immunity against V. harveyi infection.

Integrated analysis of miRNAome and transcriptome reveals miRNA-mRNA network regulation in Vibrio alginolyticus infected thick shell mussel Mytilus coruscus

The thick shell mussel Mytilus coruscus has developed into a model species for studying the interaction between molluscs and environmental stimuli. Herein, integrated analysis of miRNAome and transcriptome was performed to reveal miRNA-mRNA network regulation in Vibrio alginolyticus infected M. coruscus. There have detected some histological abnormalities in digestive gland and gills of V. alginolyticus challenged mussels, ascertaining the effective irritation by the present bacterial strain. A total of 265 novel miRNAs were finally predicted, of which 26 were differentially expressed miRNAs (DEMs). Additionally, 667 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were detected, which may be potentially associated with innate immune response to V. alginolyticus infection. A regulatory network linked to 22 important pathways and 16 DEMs and 34 OGs was constructed. Some traditional immune-related signaling pathways such as toll-like receptor signaling pathway (TLR) signaling pathway, transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) signaling pathway, peroxisome, phagosome, lysosome, mammalian target of rapamyoin (mTOR) signaling pathway were linked to specific miRNAs and genes in this network. Further, interactional relationship between certain miRNAs and TLR pathway was dissected, which the results predicted that a number of TLRs and TLR-associated signaling genes including TLR1, TLR2, TLR4, TLR6, IRAK1, TRAF6, MAPK, and IL-17 were negatively regulated by novel_miR_11, novel_miR_145, novel_miR_196, novel_miR_5, novel_miR_163 and novel_miR_217 in the TLR pathway. Additionally, interactional relationship between novel_miR_145 and TLR2 was validated by laboratory experiment. The integrated analysis of mRNA and microRNA deep sequencing data exhibited a sophisticated miRNA-mRNA regulation network in M. coruscus in response to V. alginolyticus challenge, which shed a new light on the underlying mechanism of molluscan confronting bacterial infection.

Bcl-2 mediates coelomocytes apoptosis by suppressing cytochrome c release in Vibrio splendidus challenged Apostichopus japonicus

Apoptosis is an evolutionarily conserved immune response and plays a fundamental role in many physiological processes. In this study, the important apoptosis regulator of Bcl-2 homolog from economic marine animal Apostichopus japonicus (AjBcl-2) was cloned and its roles in V. splendidus infection explored. The AjBcl-2 gene contains 3263 nucleotides, with a 5' UTR of 519 bp, an ORF of 660 bp encoding 219 aa sequences, and a 3' UTR of 2084 bp. The AjBcl-2 protein shared a conserved Bcl domain and three Bcl-2 homology domains by SMART program. In healthy sea cucumbers, AjBcl-2 mRNA was expressed in all examined tissues with the peak expression in coelomocytes. The mRNA and protein levels of AjBcl-2 in coelomocytes were depressed at 12 h and 24 h, and induced at 48 h post V. splendidus challenge. In the same conditions, coelomocytes apoptosis rates were significantly increased at 24 h and decreased at 48 h. Moreover, siRNA-mediated AjBcl-2 knockdown significantly increased the coelomocytes apoptosis rates, which could be partially recovered by recombinant AjBcl-2 administration. Furthermore, there was an increase in the AjCyt c protein expression coupled with the downregulation expression of AjBcl-2 post AjBcl-2 silencing. Our results suggested that AjBcl-2 suppressed apoptosis by preventing the AjCyt c release in coelomocytes, and thus mediating V. splendidus infection in sea cucumbers.

MicroRNAs involved in innate immunity regulation in the sea cucumber: A review

The sea cucumber is one of the most economically significant echinoderms. The immunity against exogenous stimulation of sea cucumber is of great academic and economic importance. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of short endogenous non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) that are considered as vital regulators of both innate and adaptive immune responses in most eukaryotes. In sea cucumbers, some miRNAs (such as miR-133, miR-137, and miR-2008, among others) that participate in the regulation of innate immunity have been recently identified and characterized. This review focuses on those known miRNAs and their corresponding target genes that participate in the regulation of the complement system, Toll-like receptor (TLR) pathway, reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and apoptosis pathways in sea cucumbers. Moreover, we cover immune-related miRNA investigations in sea cucumbers that provide insights into developing more miRNA-based biomarkers and therapeutic strategies for sea cucumber diseases.

MicroRNAs Profiling Identifies miR-125a and Its Target Gene Wnt2 in Skins of Different Haired Rabbits

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play critical roles in the control of skin and hair follicle development, epidermal homeostasis and pigmentation. However, the roles of miRNAs in the skins of rabbits with different hair types are unclear. In this study, we profiled miRNAs in the skins of long and short haired rabbits by Illumina deep sequencing. The dataset was compared with known mammalian miRNAs in miRBase 21.0. In total, 118 miRNAs were found to be differentially expressed between the two different rabbit types, of which 94 were upregulated, and 24 were downregulated in the skin of short haired vs. long haired rabbits. The expression levels of five randomly selected miRNAs detected by quantitative real-time PCR indicated that the expression patterns were consistent with Illumina sequencing results. What's more, bioinformatics analysis showed that miR-125a might target Wnt2, an important modulator for hair follicle development. To test whether Wnt2 is a target of miR-125a, luciferase reporter vector (pMir-report-Wnt2-3'-UTR-WT) and its substitution mutant (pMir-report-Wnt2-3'-UTR-MUT) were constructed. Co-transfection and reporter enzyme assays showed that compared with control (miR-125a NC transfection), miR-125a mimics transfection significantly inhibited the reporter luciferase activities expressed by pMir-report-Wnt2-3'-UTR-WT, while transfection of miR-125a inhibitors increased reporter enzyme activities. RT-PCR and Simple Western analysis found that Wnt2 mRNA and protein levels were induced or repressed by miR-125a overexpression or inhibition, respectively. Moreover, the mRNA expression levels of genes in Wnt signaling pathway, such as CTNNB1, LEF-1, PPARD and TGFB1, were also significantly changed (P < 0.05), consistent with Wnt2. It indicated that the regulation of Wnt2 expression by miRNAs may depend on the transcriptional degradation. The results will help to further understand the role of miRNAs in hair follicle development and the genetic mechanism underlying hair length phenotype.

miR-92a regulates coelomocytes apoptosis in sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus via targeting Aj14-3-3ζ in vivo

miR-92a, a well-documented oncogene, was previously found to be differentially expressed in diseased sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus by high-throughput sequencing. In this study, we identified Aj14-3-3ζ as a novel target of miR-92a in this species and investigated their regulatory roles in vivo. The negative expression profiles between miR-92a and Aj14-3-3ζ protein were detected in both LPS-exposed primary coelomocytes and Vibrio splendidus-challenged sea cucumbers. Over-expression of miR-92a by injection of miR-92a agomir significantly depressed the mRNA and protein expression of Aj14-3-3ζ and promoted coelomocytes apoptosis with 5.04-fold increase in vivo, which was consistent with those from siRNA-mediated Aj14-3-3ζ knockdown assay. In contrast, miR-92a antagomir significantly elevated the mRNA and protein expression of Aj14-3-3ζ and decreased coelomocytes apoptosis. Taken together, our result confirmed that miR-92a is involved in apoptotic signaling pathway regulation perhaps via targeting Aj14-3-3ζ in sea cucumbers, which will enhance our understanding of miR-92a regulatory roles in sea cucumber pathogenesis.