Molecular characterization of MHCIα gene from Rana dybowskii and its
response to LPS
Abstract
Immune tissue associated with the major histocompatibility complex (MHC)
is widely present in vertebrates highly polymorphic gene cluster.
However, available published data about how amphibians MHCI genes react
to pathogen infections are very few. The present study reports MHCI
molecule in Rana dybowskii, and its differential expression in
immunologically relevant tissues post-infection with lipopolysaccharide
(LPS). The results showed that cDNA sequence of MHCIα contained 1047bp
nucleotides encoding putative 348 amino acids. The phylogenetic analysis
exhibited its evolutionary conservation within amphibians and formed a
different clade with vertebrates. Morover, quantitative reverse
transcription PCR analyses demonstrated that the MHCI gene was
transcribed in the seven tested tissues, and analysis of immunologically
relevant tissues of MHCI gene from the infected Rana dybowskii exhibited
differential transcriptional activities. The expression of MHCI in the
heart, liver, spleen, lung, kidneys, skin and muscular reached peak
levels at 72, 24, 48, 12, 12, 12 and 72h post-infection(hpi),
respectively. These findings indicate that MHCI is an indispensable part
of the immune system. This is one of the first studies to investigate
MHCIα in Rana dybowskii and can provide the foundation for further study
of the immune function of MHC molecules in anti-infection.