Zhu Junjie, Yan Kezhi, Lu Liang, Peng Can, Zhou Chun, Chen Shangwu, Xie Xiaojin, Dong Meiling, Xu Anlong
Department of Biochemistry, College of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen (Zhongshan) University, 135 Xingangxi Road, Guangzhou 510275, People's Republic of China.
Mol Immunol. 2006 Apr;43(10):1534-40. doi: 10.1016/j.molimm.2005.10.005. Epub 2005 Dec 15.
CD9 is a glycoprotein of the transmembrane 4 superfamily (TM4SF) and is involved in various cellular processes. In this study, we describe the isolation of the full-length cDNA encoding for CD9 molecule (daCD9) of red stingray, Dasyatis akajei. This 1252 bp cDNA was isolated from leukocyte cDNA library and contains 681 bp open reading frame encoding 226 amino acid residues. Amino acid sequences analysis and structure prediction display approximately 50% identity to higher vertebrates with the presence of conserved structures, including the four transmembrane domains and certain characteristic residues. Southern blot analysis shows that daCD9 exists as a single copy gene. Northern blot analysis reveals that daCD9 is highly expressed in gill and spleen although its expression can be found in other tissues suggesting daCD9 might play an important role in immune defense in this fish.
