title: Inducible galectins are expressed in the inflamed pharynx of the ascidian Ciona intestinalis.
abstract: Although ascidians belong to a key group in chordate phylogenesis, amino acid sequences of Ciona intestinalis galectin-CRDs (CiLgals-a and -b) have been retained too divergent from vertebrate galectins. In the present paper, to contribute in disclosing Bi-CRD galectin evolution a novel attempt was carried out on CiLgals-a and -b CRDs phylogenetic analysis, and their involvement in ascidian inflammatory responses was shown. CiLgals resulted aligned with Bi-CRD galectins from vertebrates (Xenopus tropicalis, Gallus gallus, Mus musculus, Homo sapiens), cephalochordates (Branchiostoma floridae), echinoderms (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus) and a mono-CRD galectin from the ascidian Clavelina picta. The CiLgals-a N-terminal and C-terminal CRDs contain the signature sequence involved in carbohydrate binding, whereas the CiLgals-b C-CRD presents only three out of seven key aminoacids and it could not be suitable as sugar binding motif. Sequence similarity between clusters suggests an evolutionary model based on CRD domain gene duplication and sequence diversification. In particular CiLgals-b N-CRD and C-CRD were similar to each other and both grouped with the ascidian C. picta mono-CRD. Homology modeling process shows a CiLgals molecular structure superimposed to chicken and mouse galectins. The CiLgals-a and CiLgals-b genes were upregulated by LPS inoculation suggesting that they are inducible and expressed in the inflamed pharynx as revealed by real-time PCR analysis. Finally, in situ hybridization and immunohistochemical assays showed their localization in the inflamed tissues, while immunoblotting analysis indicated that CiLgals can form oligomers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Biology and Biodiversity, Laboratory of Marine Immunobiology, University of Palermo, Via Archirafi 18, 90123 Palermo, Italy.
authors.forename: Aiti
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vizzini
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Parrinello
authors.forename: Maria Antonietta
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Sanfratello
authors.forename: Giuseppina
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Salerno
authors.forename: Matteo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cammarata
authors.forename: Nicolò
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Parrinello
mesh_terms: D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic / Q000494:pharmacology; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002938:Ciona intestinalis / Q000145:classification / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D037161:Galectins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D006434:Hemocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides / Q000494:pharmacology; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010614:Pharynx / Q000187:drug effects; D010802:Phylogeny; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D013997:Time Factors; D015854:Up-Regulation / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic; D037161:Galectins; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides