title: Nuclear factor of activated T cells (NFAT) in pearl oyster Pinctada fucata: molecular cloning and functional characterization.
abstract: Nuclear factor of activated T cells (NFAT) plays an important role in nonimmune cells and also in T cells and many other cells of the immune system, by regulating the expression of a variety of genes involved in the immune response, organ development, developmental apoptosis and angiogenesis. In the present study, the NFAT homology gene, PfNFAT, from the pearl oyster Pinctada fucata was cloned and its genomic structure and promoter were analyzed. PfNFAT encodes a putative protein of 1226 amino acids, and contains a highly conserved Rel homology region (RHR) with DNA-binding specificity, and a regulatory domain (NFAT homology region, NHR) containing a potent transactivation domain (TAD). The PfNFAT gene consists of 12 exons and 11 introns, and its promoter contains potential binding sites for transcription factors such as NF-κB (Nuclear factor κB), STATx (signal transducer and activator of transcription), AP-1 (activator protein-1) and Sox-5/9 (SRY type HMG box-5/9), MyoD (Myogenic Differentiation Antigen) and IRF (Interferon regulatory factor). Comparison and phylogenetic analysis revealed that PfNFAT shows high identity with other invertebrate NFAT, and clusters with the NFAT5 subgroup. Furthermore, gene expression analysis revealed that PfNFAT is involved in the immune response to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and Polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid (poly I:C) stimulation and in the nucleus inserting operation. The study of PfNFAT may increase understanding of molluscan innate immunity.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Bio-Resources and Ecology, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Applied Marine Biology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 164 West Xingang Road, Guangzhou 510301, China.
authors.forename: Xian-De
authors.initials: XD
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Bio-Resources and Ecology, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Applied Marine Biology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 164 West Xingang Road, Guangzhou 510301, China.
authors.forename: Guo-jian
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Bio-Resources and Ecology, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Applied Marine Biology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 164 West Xingang Road, Guangzhou 510301, China.
authors.forename: Hua
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Bio-Resources and Ecology, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Applied Marine Biology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 164 West Xingang Road, Guangzhou 510301, China. Electronic address: hmx@scsio.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Mao-Xian
authors.initials: MX
authors.lastname: He
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D001665:Binding Sites / Q000235:genetics; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000235:genetics; D040461:Gene Components; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D007113:Immunity, Innate / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides; D018448:Models, Immunological; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D050778:NFATC Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics*; D010802:Phylogeny; D049911:Pinctada / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D011070:Poly I-C; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides; D050778:NFATC Transcription Factors; D011070:Poly I-C
keywords: Gene cloning; Gene expression; Pearl oyster; PfNFAT