title: Characterization of a type-I crustin with broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity from red swamp crayfish Procambarus clarkii.
abstract: Crustins are a family of antimicrobial peptides mainly identified in crustaceans and characterized by a whey acidic protein (WAP) domain and an additional glycine-, cysteine-, or proline-rich region. In this study, we identified and characterized PcCru, a new crustin isolated from red swamp crayfish Procambarus clarkii. The open reading frame of PcCru was 333 base pairs long and encoded a 110-residue polypeptide, which contained a signal peptide, a cysteine-rich region, and a WAP domain. The architecture and phylogenetic analysis suggested that PcCru was a new member of the type-I crustin family. PcCru was highly expressed in hemocytes and was significantly induced by viral and bacterial stimulations at both the translational and transcriptional levels. The titer of PcCru in circulating plasma was also increased considerably by bacterial challenge. Recombinant PcCru from both prokaryotic and eukaryotic expression systems were generated, and the proteins exhibited broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity. Furthermore, PcCru protected crayfish from infection by pathogenic bacteria Aeromonas hydrophila in vivo. This study provided new information emphasizing the important role of the crustin family in the crustacean antibacterial immune response.
authors.affiliation: Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Cells and Developmental Biology, School of Life Sciences, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong 250100, China.
authors.forename: Ning
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Cells and Developmental Biology, School of Life Sciences, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong 250100, China.
authors.forename: Ran-Ran
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Cells and Developmental Biology, School of Life Sciences, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong 250100, China.
authors.forename: Zhen-Xu
authors.initials: ZX
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.affiliation: Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Cells and Developmental Biology, School of Life Sciences, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong 250100, China.
authors.forename: Xiao-Fan
authors.initials: XF
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Cells and Developmental Biology, School of Life Sciences, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong 250100, China. Electronic address: wangxianwei@sdu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Xian-Wei
authors.initials: XW
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Cells and Developmental Biology, School of Life Sciences, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong 250100, China. Electronic address: jxwang@sdu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Jin-Xing
authors.initials: JX
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D016980:Aeromonas hydrophila / Q000276:immunology*; D000818:Animals; D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D003400:Astacoidea / Q000276:immunology*; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D016905:Gram-Negative Bacterial Infections / Q000276:immunology*; D006434:Hemocytes / Q000502:physiology*; D007113:Immunity, Innate; D008894:Milk Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D010802:Phylogeny; D015854:Up-Regulation
chemical_list: D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides; D008894:Milk Proteins; C024471:whey acidic proteins
keywords: Antimicrobial peptide; Crustin; Innate immunity; Whey acidic protein domain