Gig1 and Gig2 homologs (CiGig1 and CiGig2) from grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) display good antiviral activities in an IFN-independent pathway.

The virus-induced genes, Gig1 and Gig2, were identified first as IFN-stimulated genes (ISGs) from CAB cells. Previous studies suggested that Gig protein may have some potential antiviral functions. In this study, we cloned and identified the full-length cDNA sequences of Gig1 and Gig2 homologs (designated as CiGig1 and CiGig2, respectively) from grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella). The complete cDNA sequences of Gig1 and Gig2 contain 1231 bp and 690 bp, encoding for a 194 amino acid protein and a 158 amino acid protein, respectively. Their structure characteristics of CiGig1 and CiGig2 are highly similar to the corresponding homologues in crucian carp. The tissue-specific expressions of CiGig1 and CiGig2 in liver, spleen, kidney, intestine, gill and heart were significantly up-regulated following GCHV challenge. The results indicated that CiGig1 and CiGig2 may be involved in the antiviral immune responses in cells. To better understand the antiviral functions of CiGig1 and CiGig2 in vivo, CiGig1 or CiGig2 ORF cDNA were inserted into the plasmid pcDNA3.1, respectively. Subsequently, the recombinant plasmids were transfected into C. idellus kidney (CIK) cells. The over-expressions of CiGig1 and CiGig2 were observed in the CIK cells after treatment with GCHV. Cells with pcDNA3.1-CiGig1 or pcDNA-CiGig2 exhibited a relatively higher survival rate of (70.84% or 69.24%) than non-transfection (22.16%) and mock-vehicle controls (24.38%) following the virus infection. Our data showed that both CiGig1 and CiGig2 could exert antiviral effects effectively in vivo. Cycloheximide blocking protein synthesis demonstrated that both CiGig1 and CiGig2 mRNA expression could be induced by GCHV rather than by recombinant grass carp IFN (rCiIFN) directly, suggesting that CiGig1 and CiGig2 may not be IFN-stimulated genes since they display their antivirus activities in an IFN-independent pathway.

Sun C ，Liu Y ，Hu Y ，Fan Q ，Li W ，Yu X ，Mao H ，Hu C ... -  《-》

Promoter analysis and transcriptional regulation of a Gig2 gene in grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella).

Grass carp reovirus (GCRV)-induced gene 2 (Gig2) is recognized as a new antiviral factor involved in response to viral infection. However, little is known about the mechanisms behind the transcriptional regulation of Gig2 when infected by virus. In this study, the upstream promoter region of grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) Gig2 gene (CiGig2) was identified by homology cloning strategy. CiGig2 promoter sequence was found to be 859 bp in length and contained three scattered IFN-stimulated response elements (ISRE). In addition, some grass carp IRFs (CiIRF1, CiIRF2 and CiIRF3) ORF sequences were subcloned into the expression plasmids pET-32a and expressed in Escherichia coli BL21, then the expressed proteins were purified by affinity chromatography with the Ni-NTA His-Bind Resin. Gel mobility shift assay was employed to screen the transcriptional regulatory factor for CiGig2. The results revealed that the recombinant polypeptides of CiIRF1, CiIRF2 and CiIRF3 bound to CiGig2 promoter with high affinity; indicating that IRF1, IRF2 and IRF3 could be the potential transcriptional regulatory factors for Gig2. Subsequently, CiGig2 promoter sequence was cloned into pGL3-Basic vector and the ORFs of CiIRF1, CiIRF2 and CiIRF3 were cloned into the expression plasmids pcDNA3.1 (+). Then, pGL3-CiGig2 promoter sequence and pcDNA3.1-CiIRFs were co-transfected into C. idella kidney (CIK) cells. The in vivo effects of CiIRFs on CiGig2 promoter were measured by dual-luciferase assays in the transfected CIK cells. Our results showed that the roles of CiIRFs were diversified in regulating CiGig2 transcription, e.g., CiIRF3 played a positive role in during this process; on the contrary CiIRF1 worked as a suppressor; however the effect of CiIRF2 on CiGig2 transcription was not obvious. For further study the roles of the three ISREs in CiGig2 transcription, we cloned three mutant CiGig2 promoters called ISRE1mut-luc (deleted ISRE1), ISRE2mut-luc (deleted ISRE2) and ISRE3mut-luc (deleted ISRE3), respectively. In vitro, gel mobility shift assays showed that all three mutant promoters also were combined with CiIRFs. CIK cells were co-transfected with CiGig2 promoter mutants (ISRE1mut-luc, ISRE2mut-luc or ISRE3mut-luc, respectively) and pcDNA3.1-IRFs. The results suggested that different ISRE played the diverse roles. ISRE2 is more important than ISRE1 and ISRE3 to the transcription of CiGig2 induced by CiIRF1. ISRE1 and ISRE3 are important to the transcription of CiGig2 induced by CiIRF2 and CiIRF3.

Chen H ，Sun C ，Liu W ，Gu M ，Lin G ，Liu Y ，Mi Y ，Fan L ，Wang B ，Hu C ... -  《-》

Identification of two novel interferon-stimulated genes from cultured CAB cells induced by UV-inactivated grass carp hemorrhage virus.

Zhang YB ，Gui JF 《DISEASES OF AQUATIC ORGANISMS》

Cloning, expression and functional analysis of PKR from grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idellus).

The interferon-induced, dsRNA-activated protein kinase (PKR) is considered as an important component of innate immune system and as a representative effector protein of interferon system. In the present study, PKR gene (CiPKR, JX511974) from grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idellus) was isolated and identified using homology-based PCR. CiPKR shares high sequence identity with the counterparts of goldfish (Crucian carp) and zebrafish (Danio rerio). The full-length cDNA of CiPKR was found to be 2436 bp, with an ORF of 2067 bp that encodes a polypeptide of 688 amino acids. The deduced polypeptide CiPKR contains three tandem dsRNA-binding motifs (dsRBMs) at the N-terminus and a conserved Ser/Thr kinase domain at the C-terminus. CiPKR was expressed ubiquitously at a low-level under normal conditions, but it could be up-regulated after intraperitoneal (ip) injection with grass carp haemorrhagic virus (GCHV). CiPKR was dramatically up-regulated at 6 h post-injection and then recovered rapidly to normal levels within 24 h; however, it was obviously up-regulated once again at 48 h or 72 h post-injection. It seemed that CiPKR could respond to GCHV infection in an IFN-independent as well as an IFN-dependent pathway. To further investigate its mechanism of biological actions, we constructed a series of recombinant plasmids including pcDNA3.1/PKR-wt, pcDNA3.1/PKR-K430R, pcDNA3.1/PKR-C (deletion of dsRBD sequence) and pcDNA3.1/PKR-C-K430R, and then each recombinant plasmid was transfected into CIK cells. In comparison with those of controls, a 79% and a 64% decrease of luciferase activities were detected in the tested cells transfected with CiPKR and CiPKR-C, respectively; however, luciferase activities were increased in those cells transfected with PKR-K430R and PKR-C-K430R, with a 160% and 115% up-regulation, respectively. Similarly, MTT colorimetric assay indicated that cell viabilities of CIK cells transfected with pcDNA3.1/PKR-wt, pcDNA3.1/PKR-K430R, pcDNA3.1/PKR-C and pcDNA3.1/PKR-C-K430R were 49%, 90%, 54% and 100%, respectively. Our observations suggested that the expression of CiPKR could be up-regulated following viral infection, and then resulted in the inhibition of protein synthesis and the induction of potential apoptosis.

Hu YS ，Li W ，Li DM ，Liu Y ，Fan LH ，Rao ZC ，Lin G ，Hu CY ... -  《-》

Expression regulation and functional characterization of a novel interferon inducible gene Gig2 and its promoter.

Jiang J ，Zhang YB ，Li S ，Yu FF ，Sun F ，Gui JF ... -  《-》