title: Molecular cloning and characterization of IL-15R alpha gene in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss).
abstract: The alpha-chain of IL-15 receptor complex serves as a high-affinity, specific subunit for IL-15 binding. It shares functional and structural features with IL-2 receptor alpha-chain. Here we report for the first time that the molecular cloning, characterization and sequence analysis of the teleostean IL-15R alpha from Oncorhynchus mykiss. The full-length cDNA comprises of a 5' untranslated region (UTR) of 167 bp, an open reading frame of 732 bp and a large 3'UTR of 630 bp, constitutively expressed in all the tissues examined. Another two variants are found derived from alternative splicing. Two copies of rainbow trout IL-15R alpha (rtIL-15R alpha) were detected in the genome by Southern blot hybridization. Moreover, EST evidence is also traced from other fishes. The deduced rtIL-15R alpha of 243 amino acids contains a 17 aa signal peptide at N-terminus and a transmembrane region at C-terminus, as well as a typical sushi domain included in the extracellular region. Phylogenetic tree analysis groups rtIL-15R alpha with other IL-15R alphas but separates it from IL-2R alphas. In addition, a putative sequence was found in the sushi domain which is conserved and versatile among all species and this might relate to cytokine recognition.
authors.affiliation: College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Zijingang Campus, Zhejiang 310058, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.forename: Jian-zhong
authors.initials: JZ
authors.lastname: Shao
authors.forename: Li-xin
authors.initials: LX
authors.lastname: Xiang
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D015139:Blotting, Southern; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D019295:Computational Biology; D017931:DNA Primers; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D053720:Interleukin-15 Receptor alpha Subunit / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D017686:Oncorhynchus mykiss / Q000235:genetics*; D010802:Phylogeny; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D053720:Interleukin-15 Receptor alpha Subunit