title: Involvement of Rab6 in the regulation of phagocytosis against virus infection in invertebrates.
abstract: Phagocytosis, which is of fundamental importance for innate and adaptive immunity in animals, is driven by organization of the actin cytoskeleton. To date, however, the molecular events involved in the regulation of phagocytosis through reorganization of actin by small G proteins remains to be elucidated. To address this issue, the molecular mechanism of Rab6 in phagocytosis against virus infection in invertebrates was characterized in this study. The results showed that the Rab6 obtained from shrimp could interact with actin to regulate shrimp hemocyte phagocytosis through induction of the rearrangement of actin to protect against white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) infection. The Rab6 protein in Drosophila melanogaster shared the same mechanism of action as that of Rab6 in shrimp, indicating that the function of Rab6 in phagocytosis was conserved in invertebrates. By comparison with the early marker (Rab5) and late marker (LAMP1) of phagosomes, Rab6 was critically involved in the regulation of actin organization throughout the entire phagocytosis process. The presence of the evolutionarily conserved amino acid sequences of Rab6 in invertebrates and vertebrates indicated a conserved mechanism of Rab6 function in phagocytosis of animals. Therefore, our findings presented novel molecular events in the regulation of phagocytosis by small G proteins.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Conservation Biology for Endangered Wildlife of the Ministry of Education, Key Laboratory of Animal Virology of Ministry of Agriculture and College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, The People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Ting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ye
authors.forename: Wen
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Xiaobo
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000199:Actins / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D060829:Arthropod Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D002460:Cell Line; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000821:virology*; D006434:Hemocytes / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000821:virology; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D007304:Insect Viruses / Q000502:physiology; D033561:Penaeidae / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000821:virology*; D010587:Phagocytosis; D010802:Phylogeny; D046848:White spot syndrome virus 1 / Q000502:physiology*; D020691:rab GTP-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D000199:Actins; D060829:Arthropod Proteins; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; C094135:Rab6 protein; D020691:rab GTP-Binding Proteins