Molecular cloning and characterization analysis of immunoglobulin M heavy chain gene in European eel (Anguilla anguilla)

Identification and Characterization of Differentially Expressed IgM Transcripts of Channel Catfish Vaccinated with Antigens of Virulent Aeromonas hydrophila

Channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) is the top species produced in US aquaculture and motile Aeromonas septicemia, caused by virulent Aeromonas hydrophila (vAh), is one of the most severe diseases that afflict catfish farms. Previously, vaccination of fish with extracellular proteins (ECP) of vAh was shown to produce a robust antibody-mediated immune response against vAh infection. In this study, we analyzed IgM transcripts that were differentially expressed in the head kidney and liver of ECP-immunized and mock-immunized (control) fish with emphasis on a variable domain of heavy chain. Quantitative PCR analysis indicated that immunized fish produced significantly more IgM transcripts than control fish. Full-length IgM heavy chain cDNA was cloned, which encoded typical IgM peptide, including signal peptide, variable domain (VH), constant domain (CH), and carboxyl terminal peptide. Great sequence diversity was revealed in a VH segment, with the third complementarity diversity region (CDR3) being most variable. Using germline VH gene grouping method, variants (clones) of VH characterized in this study belonged to nine VH families. The most unique variants (approximately 49%) were found in the VH2 family. Vaccinated fish apparently had more unique variants than in the control fish. There were 62% and 79% of unique variants in the head kidney and liver of vaccinated fish, respectively, while 44% and 27% unique variants in the head kidney and liver of control fish, respectively. Among the unique variants in VH2 family, approximately 87% of them were found in vaccinated fish. Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis of semi-purified IgM protein confirmed that matured IgM protein was as variable as IgM transcripts identified in this study, with isoelectric points crossing from 6 to 10. Results of this study provided insight into the molecular and genetic basis of antibody diversity and enriched our knowledge of the complex interplay between antigens and antibodies in Ictalurid catfish.

Molecular characterization and expression analysis of secretory immunoglobulin M (IgM) heavy chain gene in rohu, Labeo rohita

Immunoglobulin M (IgM) is the major isotype among teleost immunoglobulins. The present study was aimed to explore IgM heavy chain gene and its expression profile in rohu. Full-length IgM heavy chain cDNA of rohu consisted of 1994 bp encoding a polypeptide of 576 amino acid residues including a leader peptide, variable (VH) and constant (CH1-CH2-CH3-CH4) domains confirming the secretory form of IgM. The sequence carries conserved residues such as cysteine, tryptophan and amino acid motifs like 'YYCAR' and 'FDYWGKGT-VTV-S'. The predicted 3 D model confirmed various domains of rohu IgM heavy chain. Phylogenetic tree analysis revealed that IgM heavy chain gene of rohu shared the same cluster with that of other cyprinid fishes. Tissue distribution analysis showed the predominant level of IgM heavy chain gene expression in kidney, spleen and intestine. IgM heavy chain gene expression in rohu kidney was found to be up-regulated and reached a maximum at 7 days post-challenge with Aeromonas hydrophila. These findings demonstrate the first report of full-length secretory IgM heavy chain gene in rohu. Besides, IgM heavy chain gene was highly expressed in major lymphoid tissues and bacterial challenge influenced its expression which further confirmed its role in the adaptive humoral immune response.

Molecular characterization and expression analysis of signal transducer and activator of transcription 1 (STAT1) in Japanese eel Anguilla japonica

Signal transducer and activator of transcription 1 (STAT1) is one of critical signal transduction proteins of interferon (IFN) pathway and the structure and function of this protein have been well identified in mammals, but the information about the STAT1 is still limited in teleost fishes. In the present study, the full-length cDNA sequence of STAT1 (AjSTAT1) in Japanese eel (Anguilla japonica) was identified and characterized. Multiple alignment of the amino acid sequence showed that the AjSTAT1 protein has the typical conserved domains including the amino-terminal, coiled-coil, DNA-binding, linker, Src homology 2 (SH2), transcriptional activation domains (TAD). Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) analysis revealed a broad expression for AjSTAT1 in a wide range of tissues, with the predominant expression in liver, followed by the spleen, intestine, gills, skin, kidney, and the very low expression in heart and muscle. The AjSTAT1 expressions in liver, spleen and kidney were significantly induced following injection with LPS, the viral mimic poly I:C, and Aeromonas hydrophila infection. In vitro, the AjSTAT1 transcripts of Japanese eel liver cells were significantly enhanced by the treatment of poly I:C or the stimulation of the high concentration of Aeromonas hydrophila (1 × 10⁷ cfu/mL and 1 × 10⁸ cfu/mL). Subcellular localization showed that in the natural state AjSTAT1was uniformly distributed in the cytoplasm, but AjSTAT1 was found to aggregated in the cytoplasm as well as partly in the nucleus after the stimulation of LPS and poly I:C. These results collectively suggested AjSTAT1 is an important transcription factor possibly involved in Japanese eel defense against viral and bacterial infection.

Characterization of an IgM-like immunoglobulin from silver catfish (Rhamdia quelen) serum and its use for the production of polyclonal antibodies and development of immunoassays

Abstract: Knowledge on fish immunoglobulin (Ig) characteristics and the availability of monoclonal or polyclonal antibodies to fish Igs are essential to evaluate the humoral immune response and the Ig distribution on leukocyte cells. We demonstrated that silver catfish serum Ig is composed of one immunodominant H chain with approximately 75k Da and one L chain with approximately 28 kDa, similar to human IgM. Rabbit polyclonal antibodies to the catfish IgM-like Ig recognized both the H and L chain and were useful in developing an indirect ELISA to measure the production of antibodies in fish immunized with bovine serum albumin. Dot blot and western blot cross-reactivity studies indicated a wide degree of epitope sharing amongst Ig from several Siluriformes and Characiformes fish indigenous to Brazilian rivers. In these fish species, polyclonal antibodies reacted mostly with the H chain. The results presented here are central to the development of tools and strategies to investigate the antibody production to inoculated antigens and tissue distribution of Ig molecules in native fish species. Furthermore, because of the wide range of cross-reactivity, polyclonal antibodies to silver catfish IgM-like Ig might be used to develop immunoassays to measure the humoral immune response in other fish species.

Molecular cloning and characterization of secretory and membrane-bound IgM of turbot

In recent years, increasing diseases especially bacterial diseases have brought a host of losses with the expansive cultivation of turbot (Scophthalmus maximus). In order to do more research about the immune system of turbot for better understanding the mechanism of resisting diseases, the immunoglobulin genes related to secretory and membrane-bound IgM (s-IgM and m-IgM) of turbot were cloned using homology sequences cloning and SMART RACE PCR method. The heavy chain of s-IgM cDNA is 1900 bp in length including a leader region, a variable region, four constant regions (CH1, CH2, CH3 and CH4) and a C-terminal while the cDNA of m-IgM is 1795 bp with the same leader region, variable region, three constant regions (CH1, CH2 and CH3) and two transmembrane regions (TM1 and TM2). The sequence of IgM gene was also obtained and the structure consisted of V-CH1-CH2-CH3-CH4-TM1-TM2 is similar to other fishes. The highest level of s-IgM expression was observed in spleen, followed by kidney, gills, eyes, skin of the healthy turbot whereas the same profile of m-IgM expression is found with low level. And s-IgM takes up dominant proportion of total IgM expression. Also the relative expressions of s-IgM and m-IgM were analyzed in turbot vaccinated with the live attenuated vaccine Vibrio anguillarum. Not only the transcriptions of both s-IgM and m-IgM in liver, spleen and kidney of turbot injected with V. anguillarum MVAV6203 were up-regulated but also the expressions of s-IgM and m-IgM in spleen, kidney, gut, skin and gills of bath-vaccinated turbot were increased. Comparing the ratio changes of relative expression of m-IgM and s-IgM in vaccinated turbot, we found that the proportion of m-IgM were increasing in both administration routes, which probably indicated that the increasing expression of m-IgM strengthen the phagocytic ability of B cells.