ELAVL1a is an immunocompetent protein that protects zebrafish embryos from bacterial infection.
Commun Biol
; 4(1): 251, 2021 02 26.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-33637956
ABSTRACT
Previous studies have shown that ELAVL1 plays multiple roles, but its overall biological function remains ill-defined. Here we clearly demonstrated that zebrafish ELAVL1a was a lipoteichoic acid (LTA)- and LPS-binding protein abundantly stored in the eggs/embryos of zebrafish. ELAVL1a acted not only as a pattern recognition receptor, capable of identifying LTA and LPS, as well as bacteria, but also as an effector molecule, capable of inhibiting the growth of Gram-positive and -negative bacteria. Furthermore, we reveal that the C-terminal 62 residues of ELAVL1a positioned at 181-242 were indispensable for ELAVL1a antibacterial activity. Additionally, site-directed mutagenesis revealed that the hydrophobic residues Val192/Ile193, as well as the positively charged residues Arg203/Arg204, were the functional determinants contributing to the antimicrobial activity of rELAVL1a. Importantly, microinjection of rELAVL1a into embryos markedly promoted their resistance against pathogenic Aeromonas hydrophila challenge, and this pathogen-resistant activity was considerably reduced by co-injection of anti-ELAVL1a antibody or by knockdown with morpholino for elavl1a. Collectively, our results indicate that ELAVL1a is a maternal immune factor that can protect zebrafish embryos from bacterial infection. This work also provides another angle for understanding the biological roles of ELAVL1a.
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Zebrafish
/
Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections
/
Gram-Negative Bacterial Infections
/
Zebrafish Proteins
/
ELAV Proteins
/
Gram-Negative Bacteria
Type of study:
Prognostic_studies
Limits:
Animals
Language:
En
Journal:
Commun Biol
Year:
2021
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
China