Ramírez-Gómez Francisco, Ortíz-Pineda Pablo A, Rojas-Cartagena Carmencita, Suárez-Castillo Edna C, García-Arrarás José E
Department of Biology, University of Puerto Rico, P.O. Box 23360, UPR Station, Río Piedras, San Juan, PR 00931-3360.
Immunogenetics. 2008 Jan;60(1):57-71. doi: 10.1007/s00251-007-0258-y. Epub 2007 Dec 19.
We have analyzed 5,173 expressed sequence tags (ESTs) from three cDNA libraries of normal and regenerating intestinal tissue of the sea cucumber Holothuria glaberrima and found 22 putative immune-related genes. These sequences showed similarities (e-value approx 10(-8)) to genes involved in immune processes or expressed by immune cells. Sequences were analyzed using bioinformatic tools to determine a putative identity. In addition, phylogenetic analyses were performed to find relationships with similar proteins in other organisms. The mRNAs for ten sequences were detected in coelomocytes by using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Moreover, five of them showed a significant increase in expression after an LPS challenge, while the other five showed no significant changes. These results show the variety of immune molecules that may be found in holothurians and support the idea that the invertebrate immune system is more than a collection of simple innate responses. Our study also provides new data of importance in deciphering the evolution and development of the immune system.
我们分析了来自光滑海参正常和再生肠道组织的三个cDNA文库中的5173个表达序列标签（EST），发现了22个假定的免疫相关基因。这些序列与参与免疫过程或由免疫细胞表达的基因具有相似性（e值约为10^(-8)）。使用生物信息学工具对序列进行分析以确定假定的身份。此外，进行了系统发育分析以寻找与其他生物体中相似蛋白质的关系。通过逆转录聚合酶链反应（RT-PCR）在体腔细胞中检测到了十个序列的mRNA。此外，其中五个在脂多糖（LPS）刺激后表达显著增加，而另外五个则没有显著变化。这些结果表明在海参中可能发现多种免疫分子，并支持无脊椎动物免疫系统不仅仅是简单先天反应集合的观点。我们的研究还为解读免疫系统的进化和发育提供了重要的新数据。
