重点实验室酶蛋白免疫功能研究再发文章

　　

生物通报道，厦门大学生命科学院教育部湿地生态学重点实验室王义权教授近期在《Molecular Biology and Evolution》上发表GTP酶研究新进展，The evolutionarily dynamic IFN-inducible GTPase proteins play conserved immune functions in vertebrates and cephalochordates。

 

这是王义权教授3月在《遗传学报》发表Revaluation of deuterostome phylogeny and evolutionary relationships among chordate subphyla using mitogenome data文章后的又一论文。

 

目前认为脊椎动物有4个GTP酶基因家族在干扰素调控下参与免疫反应，它们分别是Mx、GBP、IRG和VLIG基因家族。尽管人们先前对它们做了很多研究，结果主要来自对人和小鼠的研究，然而在其它动物中的情况以及进化起源问题尚不清楚。

 

厦门大学生命科学学院王义权教授课题组通过对18种具有代表性物种的基因组比较分析发现：

1. Mx, GBP和IRG家族在脊索动物分化之前就已经出现，而VLIG家族在脊椎动物分化后才出现；

2. IRG, GBP和 VLIG 家族在进化中经历了较高频率的得失过程，甚至有些基因家族在某些物种中完全丢失，比如Percomorpha鱼丢失了GBP基因，灵长类和食肉类丢失了VLIG基因；

3. 尽管在鱼类中VLIG蛋白失去了前870氨基酸序列，但这4个家族基因在所有脊椎动物中都受到干扰素的调控；

4. 尽管在文昌鱼的基因组中没有发现干扰素及其受体基因，但文昌鱼干扰素诱导的GTP酶基因在一些免疫相关器官，如腮裂、肝盲囊、肠中高表达，经PolyI:C和病原体刺激表达量可进一步上调。

 

该研究揭示干扰素诱导的GTP酶基因在头索动物中也发挥着免疫功能。

生物通推荐原文检索：The evolutionarily dynamic IFN-inducible GTPase proteins play conserved immune functions in vertebrates and cephalochordates

 

Guang Li, Juyong Zhang, Yi Sun, Hua Wang and Yiquan Wang

 

Key Laboratory of Ministry of Education for Coastal and Wetland Ecosystems, Department of Biology, School of Life Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China

 

Interferon (IFN)-inducible GTPases currently include four families of proteins: myxovirus resistant proteins (Mxs), guanylate-binding proteins (GBPs), immunity-related GTPase proteins (IRGs), and very large inducible GTPase proteins (VLIGs). They are all under conserved regulation by IFNs in humans and mice and play a critical role in preventing microbial infections. However, differences between vertebrates are poorly characterized, and their evolutionary origins have not been studied in detail. In this study, we performed comparative genomic analysis of the four families in 18 representative animals that yielded several unexpected results. Firstly, we found that Mx, GBP, and IRG protein families arose before the divergence of chordate subphyla, but VLIG emerged solely in vertebrates. Secondly, IRG, GBP, and VLIG families have experienced a high rate of gene gain and loss during the evolution, with the GBP family being lost entirely in two pufferfish and VLIG family lost in primates and carnivores. Thirdly, the regulation of these genes by IFNs is highly conserved throughout vertebrates although the VLIG protein sequences in fish have lost the first 870 amino acid residues. Finally, amphioxus IFN-inducible GTPase genes are all highly expressed in immune-related organs such as gill, liver, and intestine and are upregulated after challenge with PolyI:C and pathogens, although no IFNs or their receptors were detected in the current amphioxus genome database. These results suggest that IFN-inducible GTPase genes play conserved immune functions both in vertebrates and in cephalochordates.

王义权

教授 博导

研究领域：主要从事动物比较基因组与分子进化、动物遗传多样性与DNA分子标记、文昌鱼模式化与发育遗传研究。

 

工作经历：安徽师范大学学士（1982）；陕西师范大学动物学助教班（1985）；南京师范大学博士,（1995）；中国药大学博士后（1997）；香港科技大学访问学者（1998）；南京师范大学教授、博导,（1999）；美国德克萨斯大学访问教授（2000）；美国辛辛那提大学访问学者（2001）；厦门大学生命科学学院教授、博导（2002）。中国两栖爬行动物学会副理事长；中国遗传学会第六届动物学专业委员会委员；福建省遗传学会常务理事；《遗传学报》《遗传》《动物学研究》编委；院学位委员会委员。