A novel protein XXXX kinase Tec identified in lamprey, Lampetra japonica.

@entity3689 @entity8470 @entity4149 @entity14994
UNASSIGNED: Protein @entity4149 kinase Tec, a kind of non-receptor @entity4149 kinase, is primarily found to be expressed in T cells, B cells, hematopoietic cells, and liver cells as a cytoplasmic protein. Tec has been proved to be a critical modulator of T cell receptor signaling pathway. In the present study, a homolog of Tec was identified in the lamprey, Lampetra japonica. The full-length Tec cDNA of @entity8470 (Lja-Tec) contains a 1923 bp open reading frame that encodes a 641- @entity3689 protein. The multi-alignment of the deduced @entity3689 sequence of Lja-Tec with typical vertebrate Tecs showed that it possesses all conserved domains of the Tec family proteins, indicating that an ortholog of Tec exists in the extant jawless vertebrate. In the phylogenetic tree that was reconstructed with 24 homologs of jawless and jawed vertebrates, the Tecs from lampreys and @entity14994 were clustered as a single clade. The genetic distance between the outgroup and agnathan Tecs' group is closer than that between outgroup and gnathostome Tecs' group, indicating that its origin was far earlier than any of the jawed vertebrates. The mRNA levels of Lja-Tec in lymphocyte-like cells and gills were detected by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Results showed that it was significantly upregulated under stimulation with mixed pathogens. This result was further confirmed by western blot analysis. All these results indicated that Lja-Tec plays an important role in immune response. Our data will provide a reference for the further study of lamprey Tec and its immunological function in jawless vertebrates.
