Characterization and function of a β-catenin homolog from Litopenaeus vannamei in WSSV infection.

Abstract

As a conserved signaling pathway, Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway participates in many physiological activities, including cell differentiation, apoptosis and so on. β-catenin is the key molecule of Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway and plays a pivotal role. In this article, a β-catenin homolog from Litopenaeus vannamei (designed as Lv-β-catenin) was cloned and its role in WSSV infection was investigated. Sequence analysis suggested that Lv-β-catenin had characters of β-catenin family. Semi-quantitative RT-PCR showed that Lv-β-catenin transcripted in all detected tissues. In the subsequent WSSV infection experiments, it was found that the transcription levels of Lv-β-catenin were down-regulated, as well as the expression levels. Immunofluorescence assay further confirmed that WSSV could reduce the amount of Lv-β-catenin and promoted Lv-β-catenin to translocate into the nucleus. Moreover, we found that WSSV could influence the amount of Lv-β-catenin by ubiquitination. While Lv-β-catenin was up-regulated by a β-catenin activator GSK-3 Inhibitor IX, the transcription of virus immediate early gene WSSV069 was significantly inhibited. In addition, it was found that Lv-β-catenin could interact with WSSV069. Conclusively, our study provided evidences that β-catenin may participate in the WSSV infection, and Wnt/β-catenin signal pathway may play an important role in immune regulation.

• Authors: Jiazhen Sun, Lingwei Ruan, Congzhao Zhou, Hong Shi, Xun Xu
• Journal: Developmental and comparative immunology (Dev Comp Immunol) Vol. 76 Pg. 412-419 (11 2017) ISSN: 1879-0089 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 28689772 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)
• Copyright: Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Chemical References

• Arthropod Proteins
• beta Catenin
• Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3

Topics

• Animals
• Arthropod Proteins (genetics, metabolism)
• Cell Nucleus (metabolism)
• Cells, Cultured
• Cloning, Molecular
• Gene Expression Regulation
• Gene Expression Regulation, Viral
• Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3 (metabolism)
• Immunomodulation
• Penaeidae (immunology, virology)
• Protein Transport
• Virus Diseases (immunology, metabolism)
• White spot syndrome virus 1 (immunology)
• Wnt Signaling Pathway
• beta Catenin (genetics, metabolism)