Salmela Heli, Harwood Gyan P, Münch Daniel, Elsik Christine G, Herrero-Galán Elías, Vartiainen Maria K, Amdam Gro V
Organismal and Evolutionary Biology Research Program, University of Helsinki, Viikinkaari 1, 00014 Helsinki, FI Finland.
Department of Entomology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 320 Morrill Hall 505 South Goodwin Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801 USA.
Apidologie. 2022;53(1):13. doi: 10.1007/s13592-022-00914-9. Epub 2022 Mar 15.
Vitellogenin (Vg) is a conserved protein used by nearly all oviparous animals to produce eggs. It is also pleiotropic and performs functions in oxidative stress resistance, immunity, and, in honey bees, behavioral development of the worker caste. It has remained enigmatic how Vg affects multiple traits. Here, we asked whether Vg enters the nucleus and acts via DNA-binding. We used cell fractionation, immunohistology, and cell culture to show that a structural subunit of honey bee Vg translocates into cell nuclei. We then demonstrated Vg-DNA binding theoretically and empirically with prediction software and chromatin immunoprecipitation with sequencing (ChIP-seq), finding binding sites at genes influencing immunity and behavior. Finally, we investigated the immunological and enzymatic conditions affecting Vg cleavage and nuclear translocation and constructed a 3D structural model. Our data are the first to show Vg in the nucleus and suggest a new fundamental regulatory role for this ubiquitous protein.
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13592-022-00914-9.
卵黄原蛋白（Vg）是一种几乎所有卵生动物都用于产卵的保守蛋白。它还具有多效性，在抗氧化应激、免疫方面发挥作用，在蜜蜂中，还参与工蜂 caste 的行为发育。Vg 如何影响多种性状一直是个谜。在这里，我们研究了 Vg 是否进入细胞核并通过与 DNA 结合发挥作用。我们使用细胞分级分离、免疫组织学和细胞培养方法，证明蜜蜂 Vg 的一个结构亚基可转运到细胞核中。然后，我们通过预测软件和染色质免疫沉淀测序（ChIP-seq）从理论和实验上证明了 Vg 与 DNA 的结合，在影响免疫和行为的基因上发现了结合位点。最后，我们研究了影响 Vg 裂解和核转运的免疫和酶学条件，并构建了一个三维结构模型。我们的数据首次表明 Vg 存在于细胞核中，并表明这种普遍存在的蛋白具有新的基本调节作用。
在线版本包含可在 10.1007/s13592-022-00914-9 获得的补充材料。
