title: Transferrin inhibits stress-induced apoptosis in a beetle.
abstract: Transferrin in insects is known as an iron transporter, an antibiotic agent, a vitellogenin, and a juvenile hormone-regulated protein. We show here a novel functional role for insect transferrin. Stresses, such as iron overload, bacterial or fungal challenge, cold or heat shock, wounding, and H2O2 or paraquat exposure, cause upregulation of the beetle Apriona germari transferrin (AgTf) gene in the fat body and epidermis, and they cause increased AgTf protein levels. RNA interference (RNAi)-mediated AgTf reduction results in rapid induction of apoptotic cell death in the fat body during exposure to heat stress. The observed effect of AgTf RNAi indicates that AgTf inhibits heat stress-induced apoptotic cell death, suggesting a functional role for AgTf in defense and stress responses in the beetle.
authors.affiliation: College of Natural Resources and Life Science, Dong-A University, Busan 604-714, Korea.
authors.forename: Kwang Sik
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Bo Yeon
authors.initials: BY
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Hong Ja
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Sook Jae
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Seo
authors.forename: Hyung Joo
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Yoon
authors.forename: Yong Soo
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Iksoo
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Yeon Soo
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Yeon Ho
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Je
authors.forename: Sang Mong
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Doh Hoon
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Hung Dae
authors.initials: HD
authors.lastname: Sohn
authors.forename: Byung Rae
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Jin
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000502:physiology*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D001517:Coleoptera / Q000378:metabolism*; D053938:DNA Fragmentation; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D005216:Fat Body / Q000502:physiology; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000502:physiology*; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D014168:Transferrin / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D018076:DNA, Complementary; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D014168:Transferrin