Key Laboratory of Freshwater Aquatic Genetic Resources, Ministry of Agriculture/ National Demonstration Center for Experimental Fisheries Science Education / Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Aquaculture, Shanghai Ocean University, No.999, Huchenghuan Rd, Nanhui New City, Shanghai, PR China.
Key Laboratory of Freshwater Aquatic Genetic Resources, Ministry of Agriculture/ National Demonstration Center for Experimental Fisheries Science Education / Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Aquaculture, Shanghai Ocean University, No.999, Huchenghuan Rd, Nanhui New City, Shanghai, PR China; Department of Pharmacy, School of Medicine, Tongji University, 1239 Siping Road, Shanghai, PR China.
Comp Biochem Physiol B Biochem Mol Biol. 2021 Oct-Dec;256:110651. doi: 10.1016/j.cbpb.2021.110651. Epub 2021 Jul 25.
mTOR is a typical and conserved serine/threonine protein kinase that regulates cell growth and metabolism of organisms. Molting is a fundamental biological process in Chinese mitten crab (Eriocheir sinensis) and is monitored by a series of genes and pathways. The structural and functional characteristics of EsmTOR was investigated to determine the role of mTOR in the molting process of. The intact CDS of EsmTOR is 7449 bp in length and encodes a polypeptide consisting of 2482 amino acids. EsmTOR was expressed in all eight tissues examined during the three molting stages (postmolt, intermolt andpremolt), with levels fluctuating significantly during the molting. RNA interference of EsmTOR significantly delayed molting, indicating that mTOR may be involved in the molting process of E. sinensis. Meanwhile, a substantial downregulation was observed for the expression of upstream genes involved in amino acid transport (EsSLC7A5 and EsVATB) and downstream genes promoting ribosomal protein synthesis (EsS6K1) in the mTOR signaling pathway, as well as typical molt-related genes (EsMIH and EsEcR) after EsmTOR RNAi treatment. In addition, EsRheb, a molecular marker for tissue growth, was also significantly down-regulated. This study suggests that EsmTOR plays a fundamental role in molting regulation through the SLC7A5-V-ATPase-mTORC1 gene network.
mTOR 是一种典型且保守的丝氨酸/苏氨酸蛋白激酶，调节着生物的细胞生长和新陈代谢。蜕皮是中华绒螯蟹（Eriocheir sinensis）的基本生物学过程，受一系列基因和途径的调控。本研究旨在探究 EsmTOR 的结构和功能特征，以确定 mTOR 在中华绒螯蟹蜕皮过程中的作用。EsmTOR 的完整 CDS 长度为 7449bp，编码由 2482 个氨基酸组成的多肽。EsmTOR 在三个蜕皮阶段（刚蜕皮、间蜕皮和预蜕皮）的所有 8 种组织中均有表达，其表达水平在蜕皮过程中波动显著。EsmTOR 的 RNA 干扰显著延迟了蜕皮，表明 mTOR 可能参与了中华绒螯蟹的蜕皮过程。同时，在 EsmTOR RNAi 处理后，mTOR 信号通路中参与氨基酸转运的上游基因（EsSLC7A5 和 EsVATB）和促进核糖体蛋白合成的下游基因（EsS6K1）以及典型的蜕皮相关基因（EsMIH 和 EsEcR）的表达水平也显著下调。此外，组织生长的分子标志物 EsRheb 也显著下调。本研究表明，EsmTOR 通过 SLC7A5-V-ATPase-mTORC1 基因网络在蜕皮调控中发挥着重要作用。
