title: Granular gland transcriptomes in stimulated amphibian skin secretions.
abstract: Amphibian defensive skin secretions are complex, species-specific cocktails of biologically active molecules, including many uncharacterized peptides. The study of such secretions for novel peptide discovery is time-limited, as amphibians are in rapid global decline. While secretion proteome analysis is non-lethal, transcriptome analysis has until now required killing of specimens prior to skin dissection for cDNA library construction. Here we present the discovery that polyadenylated mRNAs encoding dermal granular gland peptides are present in defensive skin secretions, stabilized by endogenous nucleic acid-binding amphipathic peptides. Thus parallel secretory proteome and transcriptome analyses can be performed without killing the specimen in this model amphibian system--a finding that has important implications in conservation of biodiversity within this threatened vertebrate taxon and whose mechanistics may have broader implications in biomolecular science.
authors.affiliation: Pharmaceutical Biotechnology Group, School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Ulster, Coleraine BT52 1SA, Northern Ireland, UK.
authors.forename: Tianbao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Farragher
authors.forename: Anthony J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Bjourson
authors.forename: David F
authors.initials: DF
authors.lastname: Orr
authors.forename: Pingfan
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rao
authors.forename: Chris
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Shaw
mesh_terms: D017398:Alternative Splicing; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D029845:Amphibian Proteins; D000664:Amphibian Venoms / Q000235:genetics; D000663:Amphibians / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides / Q000235:genetics; D012634:Bodily Secretions / Q000502:physiology; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004558:Electric Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D015287:Neurokinin B / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000235:genetics; D010455:Peptides; D011498:Protein Precursors / Q000235:genetics; D011506:Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D020543:Proteome; D012322:RNA Precursors / Q000235:genetics; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D012867:Skin / Q000378:metabolism*; D029867:Xenopus Proteins
chemical_list: D029845:Amphibian Proteins; D000664:Amphibian Venoms; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides; C474018:BM8 peptide, Bombina maxima; D010455:Peptides; D011498:Protein Precursors; D011506:Proteins; D020543:Proteome; D012322:RNA Precursors; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D029867:Xenopus Proteins; C121230:ranatuerin; C056453:promagainin protein, Xenopus; D015287:Neurokinin B; C038393:neuromedin B