title: Induction of ASABF (Ascaris suum antibacterial factor)-type antimicrobial peptides by bacterial injection: novel members of ASABF in the nematode Ascaris suum.
abstract: Recently, invertebrate models have been widely used for the study of innate immunity. Nematodes are novel potential candidates because of the experimental advantages of Caenorhabditis elegans. However, whether nematodes have active immune responses is still ambiguous. Previously, we reported ASABF (Ascaris suum antibacterial factor)-type antimicrobial peptides in the parasitic nematode Ascaris suum and the genetic model nematode C. elegans. Further screening of a cDNA library and an expressed-sequence-tag database search detected five novel members of ASABF (ASABF-beta, -gamma, -delta, - epsilon and -zeta) in A. suum. The transcripts for ASABF-alpha, -beta, -gamma, and -delta clearly increased in the body wall, and also in the intestine for ASABF-delta, 4 h after injection of heat-killed bacteria into the pseudocoelom (body cavity), suggesting that these peptides are inducible in the acute phase of immune response. These results also suggest that the nematodes can recognize bacteria in the pseudocoelomic fluid and evoke an active immune response.
authors.affiliation: Department of Developmental Biology, National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, Oowashi 1-2, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8634, Japan.
authors.forename: Ajitha
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pillai
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ueno
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Yusuke
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kato
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000737:chemistry; D017165:Ascaris suum / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D015152:Blotting, Northern; D004926:Escherichia coli; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005091:Exons; D005260:Female; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D015801:Helminth Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D007438:Introns; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010455:Peptides; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
chemical_list: C102532:ASABF protein, Ascaris suum; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D015801:Helminth Proteins; D010455:Peptides