title: MKK6 from pacific white shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei is responsive to bacterial and WSSV infection.
abstract: p38 mitogen-actived protein kinases (MAPKs) broadly exist from yeast to mammals and participate in diverse cellular responses to various stimuli, whose activation can be induced by the MAPK kinase 6 (MKK6). In this study, a novel MKK6 homolog from Litopenaeus vannamei (LvMKK6) was cloned and characterized. The transcript of LvMKK6 was 1465bp long with an open reading frame (ORF) of 987bp that encoded a polypeptide of 328 amino acids. LvMKK6 was a both cytoplasmic- and nuclear-localized protein and its expression was up-regulated with the treatment of different stimuli including LPS, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Staphylococcus aureus, Poly (I:C) and white spot syndrome virus (WSSV). Overexpression of LvMKK6 could lead to activate the promoter activities of several antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) such as PEN4. The further investigation demonstrated that LvMKK6 could interact with and phosphorylate Lvp38, suggesting LvMKK6 was an activator of Lvp38. Knockdown of LvMKK6 caused attenuate expression of several AMPs and resulted in the higher mortality of shrimp under V. parahaemolyticus infection, suggesting LvMKK6 could play vital roles in defense against bacterial infection. Interestingly, silencing of LvMKK6 led to the lower virus loads and suppressed viral gene (VP28) expression during WSSV challenge. In addition, overexpression of LvMKK6 promoted the promoter activities of 19 WSSV immediate-early genes such as wsv069, wsv249, wsv108 and wsv403. These results suggested that LvMKK6 could be used by WSSV. Above all, these data provided experimental evidences that participation of LvMKK6 in regulating AMPs and host defense against bacteria, as well as the immune response to WSSV infection.
authors.affiliation: MOE Key Laboratory of Aquatic Product Safety/State Key Laboratory for Biocontrol, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, PR China; Institute of Aquatic Economic Animals and Guangdong Provice Key Laboratory for Aquatic Economic Animals, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, PR China; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Marine Resources and Coastal Engineering, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, PR China.
authors.forename: Haoyang
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: MOE Key Laboratory of Aquatic Product Safety/State Key Laboratory for Biocontrol, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, PR China; Institute of Aquatic Economic Animals and Guangdong Provice Key Laboratory for Aquatic Economic Animals, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, PR China; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Marine Resources and Coastal Engineering, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, PR China.
authors.forename: Sheng
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: MOE Key Laboratory of Aquatic Product Safety/State Key Laboratory for Biocontrol, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, PR China.
authors.forename: Zhe
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Qian
authors.affiliation: MOE Key Laboratory of Aquatic Product Safety/State Key Laboratory for Biocontrol, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, PR China.
authors.forename: Zhenzhen
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: MOE Key Laboratory of Aquatic Product Safety/State Key Laboratory for Biocontrol, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, PR China; Institute of Aquatic Economic Animals and Guangdong Provice Key Laboratory for Aquatic Economic Animals, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, PR China; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Marine Resources and Coastal Engineering, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, PR China.
authors.forename: Kai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lǚ
authors.affiliation: MOE Key Laboratory of Aquatic Product Safety/State Key Laboratory for Biocontrol, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, PR China; Institute of Aquatic Economic Animals and Guangdong Provice Key Laboratory for Aquatic Economic Animals, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, PR China; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Marine Resources and Coastal Engineering, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, PR China.
authors.forename: Shaoping
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Weng
authors.affiliation: MOE Key Laboratory of Aquatic Product Safety/State Key Laboratory for Biocontrol, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, PR China; Institute of Aquatic Economic Animals and Guangdong Provice Key Laboratory for Aquatic Economic Animals, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, PR China; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Marine Resources and Coastal Engineering, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, PR China; School of Marine Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, PR China. Electronic address: lsshjg@mail.sysu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Jianguo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: MOE Key Laboratory of Aquatic Product Safety/State Key Laboratory for Biocontrol, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, PR China; Institute of Aquatic Economic Animals and Guangdong Provice Key Laboratory for Aquatic Economic Animals, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, PR China; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Marine Resources and Coastal Engineering, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, PR China; School of Marine Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, PR China. Electronic address: lichaozh@mail2.sysu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Chaozheng
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D060829:Arthropod Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D001483:Base Sequence; D015153:Blotting, Western; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000276:immunology; D047468:Immunoprecipitation; D048669:MAP Kinase Kinase 6 / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D033561:Penaeidae / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus; D014736:Vibrio parahaemolyticus; D014777:Virus Diseases / Q000276:immunology*; D046848:White spot syndrome virus 1
chemical_list: D060829:Arthropod Proteins; D048669:MAP Kinase Kinase 6
keywords: Antimicrobial peptides; Immediate-early (IE) genes; Litopenaeus vannamei; MKK6; WSSV; p38 pathway