title: High sequence variability among hemocyte-specific Kazal-type proteinase inhibitors in decapod crustaceans.
abstract: Crustacean hemocytes were found to produce a large number of transcripts coding for Kazal-type proteinase inhibitors (KPIs). A detailed study performed with the crayfish Pacifastacus leniusculus and the shrimp Penaeus monodon revealed the presence of at least 26 and 20 different Kazal domains from the hemocyte KPIs, respectively. Comparisons with KPIs from other taxa indicate that the sequences of these domains evolve rapidly. A few conserved positions, e.g. six invariant cysteines were present in all domain sequences whereas the position of P1 amino acid, a determinant for substrate specificity, varied highly. A study with a single crayfish animal suggested that even at the individual level considerable sequence variability among hemocyte KPIs produced exist. Expression analysis of four crayfish KPI transcripts in hematopoietic tissue cells and different hemocyte types suggest that some of these KPIs are likely to be involved in hematopoiesis or hemocyte release as they were produced in particular hemocyte types or maturation stages only.
authors.affiliation: Department of Comparative Physiology, Uppsala University, Norbyvägen 18 A, SE-752 36 Uppsala, Sweden. Lage.Cerenius@ebc.uu.se
authors.forename: Lage
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cerenius
authors.forename: Haipeng
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Yanjiao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Vichien
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Rimphanitchayakit
authors.forename: Anchalee
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tassanakajon
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gunnar Andersson
authors.forename: Kenneth
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Söderhäll
authors.forename: Irene
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Söderhäll
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003400:Astacoidea / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics*; D001483:Base Sequence; D014644:Genetic Variation; D006434:Hemocytes / Q000276:immunology; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017421:Sequence Analysis; D015842:Serine Proteinase Inhibitors / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D015842:Serine Proteinase Inhibitors