Cloning and expression analysis of interferon-gamma-inducible-lysosomal thiol reductase gene in large yellow croaker (Pseudosciaena crocea).

In mammals, interferon-gamma-inducible-lysosomal thiol reductase (GILT) has been demonstrated to play a key role in the processing and presentation of MHC class II-restricted antigen (Ag) by catalyzing disulfide bond reduction, thus unfolding native protein Ag and facilitating subsequent cleavage by proteases. Here, we reported the cloning of a GILT gene homologue from the spleen of large yellow croaker, a marine fish (LycGILT). The full-length cDNA of LycGILT gene is 1033 nucleotides (nt) encoding a protein of 256 amino acids (aa), with a putative molecular weight of 28.9 kDa. The deduced protein is highly homologous to that of mammalian and zebrafish GILTs and shares 54.1% sequence identity to that of zebrafish and 43.2-39.2% sequence identity to that of various mammals. The deduced LycGILT possesses the typical structural feature of mammalian GILT, including an active-site CXXC motif, a GILT signature sequence CQHGX2ECX2NX4C, and other six cysteines responsible for the formation of disulfide bonds in the C-terminus. Genomic analysis revealed that LycGILT gene, spanning a 3159nt fragment, contained seven exons interrupted by six introns and exhibited a similar exon-intron organization to human and mouse GILT genes except for a slightly more compact intron arrangement. The LycGILT expression is obviously up-regulated in spleen and kidney after immunization with inactivated trivalent bacterial vaccine consisting of Vibrio alginolyticus, V. paraphaemolyticus, and Aeromonas hydrophila although it also is constitutively expressed in liver, gills, brain, and heart, suggesting that LycGILT may be involved in the immune response to bacterial challenge in large yellow croaker. A search of NCBI sequence data with LycGILT cDNA identified a pufferfish (fugu rubrides) GILT homologue cDNA and its genomic DNA sequence, where two putative interferon-gamma activation sites (GAS) were found within the promoter region. This provided evidence that a fish GILT homologue like mammalian GILT, may also be regulated by interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) through the JAK-STAT signal pathway. These results indicate that the bony fish GILT is a functional homologue of mammalian GILT.