title: Genetic characterization of interleukins (IL-1α, IL-1β, IL-2, IL-4, IL-8, IL-10, IL-12A, IL-12B, IL-15 and IL-18) with relevant biological roles in lagomorphs.
abstract: ILs, as essential innate immune modulators, are involved in an array of biological processes. In the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) IL-1α, IL-1β, IL-2, IL-4, IL-8, IL-10, IL-12A, IL-12B, IL-15 and IL-18 have been implicated in inflammatory processes and in the immune response against rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus and myxoma virus infections. In this study we characterized these ILs in six Lagomorpha species (European rabbit, pygmy rabbit, two cottontail rabbit species, European brown hare and American pika). Overall, these ILs are conserved between lagomorphs, including in their exon/intron structure. Most differences were observed between leporids and American pika. Indeed, when comparing both, some relevant differences were observed in American pika, such as the location of the stop codon in IL-1α and IL-2, the existence of a different transcript in IL8 and the number of cysteine residues in IL-1β. Changes at N-glycosylation motifs were also detected in IL-1, IL-10, IL-12B and IL-15. IL-1α is the protein that presents the highest evolutionary distances, which is in contrast to IL-12A where the distances between lagomorphs are the lowest. For all these ILs, sequences of human and European rabbit are more closely related than between human and mouse or European rabbit and mouse.
authors.affiliation: CIBIO, InBIO-Research Network in Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology, Universidade do Porto, Campus de Vairão, Vairão, Portugal UMIB/UP-Unidade Multidisciplinar de Investigação Biomédica/Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Fabiana
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Neves
authors.affiliation: CIBIO, InBIO-Research Network in Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology, Universidade do Porto, Campus de Vairão, Vairão, Portugal.
authors.forename: Joana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Abrantes
authors.affiliation: CIBIO, InBIO-Research Network in Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology, Universidade do Porto, Campus de Vairão, Vairão, Portugal.
authors.forename: Tereza
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Almeida
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Ana Lemos
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: de Matos
authors.affiliation: UMIB/UP-Unidade Multidisciplinar de Investigação Biomédica/Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal Departmento Genética, CSPGF, Instituto Nacional de Saúde Dr. Ricardo Jorge, Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Paulo P
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Costa
authors.affiliation: CIBIO, InBIO-Research Network in Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology, Universidade do Porto, Campus de Vairão, Vairão, Portugal Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal CITS-Centro de Investigação em Tecnologias de Saúde, CESPU, Gandra, Portugal pjesteves@cibio.up.pt.
authors.forename: Pedro J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Esteves
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018388:Codon, Terminator; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D006801:Humans; D053582:Interleukin-1alpha / Q000235:genetics*; D053583:Interleukin-1beta / Q000737:chemistry*; D007376:Interleukin-2 / Q000235:genetics*; D016209:Interleukin-8 / Q000235:genetics*; D007378:Interleukins / Q000235:genetics*; D007793:Lagomorpha / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D051379:Mice; D011817:Rabbits; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D018388:Codon, Terminator; D053582:Interleukin-1alpha; D053583:Interleukin-1beta; D007376:Interleukin-2; D016209:Interleukin-8; D007378:Interleukins
keywords: Immune system; interleukins; lagomorphs