title: Molecular cloning and characterization of novel ficolins from Xenopus laevis.
abstract: Ficolins are proteins characterized by the presence of collagen- and fibrinogen-like domains. Two of three human ficolins, L-ficolin and H-ficolin, are serum lectins and are thought to play crucial roles in host defense through opsonization and complement activation. To elucidate the evolution of ficolins and the primordial complement lectin pathway, we cloned four ficolin cDNAs from Xenopus laevis, termed Xenopus ficolin (XeFCN) 1, 2, 3 and 4. The deduced amino acid sequences of the four ficolins revealed the conserved collagen- and fibrinogen-like domains. The full sequences of the four ficolins showed a 42-56% identity to human ficolins, and 60-83% between one another. Northern blots showed that XeFCN1 was expressed mainly in liver, spleen and heart, and XeFCN2 and XeFCN4 mainly in peripheral blood leukocytes, lung and spleen. We isolated ficolin proteins from Xenopus serum by affinity chromatography on N-acetylglucosamine-agarose, followed by ion-exchange chromatography. The final eluate showed polymeric bands composed of two components of 37 and 40 kDa. The N-terminal amino acid sequences and treatment with endoglycosidase F showed that the two bands are the same XeFCN1 protein with different masses of N-linked sugar. The polymeric form of the two types of XeFCN1 specifically recognized GlcNAc and GalNAc residues. These results suggest that like human L-ficolin, XeFCN1 functions in the circulation through its lectin activity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Fukushima Medical University School of Medicine, 1-Hikarigaoka, 960-1295, Fukushima, Japan.
authors.forename: Yuji
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kakinuma
authors.forename: Yuichi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Endo
authors.forename: Minoru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: Munehiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nakata
authors.forename: Misao
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Matsushita
authors.forename: Seiichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Takenoshita
authors.forename: Teizo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fujita
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D002846:Chromatography, Affinity; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000737:chemistry; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D037102:Lectins; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D014982:Xenopus laevis / Q000235:genetics*; D000097604:Ficolins
chemical_list: D002352:Carrier Proteins; D017931:DNA Primers; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D037102:Lectins; D000097604:Ficolins