Beclin-1 is involved in the regulation of antimicrobial peptides expression in Chinese mitten crab Eriocheir sinensis.
Beclin-1, the mammalian ortholog of yeast Atg6, plays essential roles in the regulation of various processes, including autophagy, apoptosis, embryonic development and immune responses in vertebrates. However, the information about Beclin-1 in invertebrates especially in crustaceans is still very limited. In the present study, a novel Beclin-1 (designated as EsBeclin-1) was identified from Chinese mitten crab Eriocheir sinensis. The open reading frame of EsBeclin-1 cDNA was of 1,275 bp, encoding a typical APG6 domain. The deduced amino acid sequence of EsBeclin-1 shared high similarity ranging from 42.9% to 63.6% with the previously identified Beclins. In the phylogenetic tree, EsBeclin-1 was firstly clustered with Drosophila melanogaster Atg6 and then assigned into the branch of invertebrate Beclin-1. The mRNA transcripts of EsBeclin-1 were highly expressed in hepatopancreas, hemocytes and gill. After lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and Aeromonas hydrophila stimulations, the relative mRNA expression of EsBeclin-1 in hemocytes was significantly increased from 3 to 24 h with the peak level of 4.70-fold (p < 0.01) and 2.91-fold (p < 0.01) at 6 h, respectively. EsBeclin-1 protein was diffusely distributed in the cytoplasm of crab hemocytes under normal conditions, whereas it displayed predominantly punctuate distribution after LPS stimulation. After EsBeclin-1 was interfered with specific EsBeclin-1-dsRNA, the mRNA transcripts of some antimicrobial peptides, including EsALF2, EsLYZ, EsCrus and EsCrus2 in crab hemocytes were significantly decreased at 6 h post LPS stimulation. These results implicated that EsBeclin-1 played a role in regulating the antimicrobial peptides expressions in the immune responses of E. sinensis.
['Yang|Wen|W|', 'Liu|Chao|C|', 'Xu|Qingsong|Q|', 'Qu|Chen|C|', 'Sun|Jiejie|J|', 'Huang|Shu|S|', 'Kong|Ning|N|', 'Lv|Xiaojing|X|', 'Liu|Zhaoqun|Z|', 'Wang|Lingling|L|', 'Song|Linsheng|L|']
D016980:Aeromonas hydrophila D000595:Amino Acid Sequence D000818:Animals D060829:Arthropod Proteins D001483:Base Sequence D000071186:Beclin-1 D003386:Brachyura D020869:Gene Expression Profiling D005786:Gene Expression Regulation D007113:Immunity, Innate D008070:Lipopolysaccharides D010802:Phylogeny D016415:Sequence Alignment
Beclin-1 Antimicrobial peptides Eriocheir sinensis Immune response Lipopolysaccharide