Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) homologue in turbot ( Scophthalmus maximus): Molecular characterization and expression analysis

• Published in: Fish & shellfish immunology Vol. 30; no. 1; pp. 255 - 262
• Main Authors: Wang, Na, Yang, Chang-Geng, Sun, Zhong-Zhi, Wang, Xian-Li, Chen, Song-Lin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 2011
• Subjects: Amino Acid Sequence; amino acids; Animals; bacterial infections; Base Sequence; Cloning, Molecular; complementary DNA; conserved sequences; cytokines; disease resistance; DNA Virus Infections - metabolism; DNA Virus Infections - veterinary; DNA Virus Infections - virology; DNA, Complementary - genetics; DNA, Complementary - metabolism; fish diseases; Fish Diseases - immunology; Fish Diseases - metabolism; Flatfishes - metabolism; Freshwater; gene expression regulation; Gene Expression Regulation - immunology; Gene Expression Regulation - physiology; genes; Hepcidin; Immune defense; immunity; Iridoviridae; kidneys; liver; Lymphocystivirus; Marine; messenger RNA; molecular cloning; Molecular Sequence Data; nucleotides; pathogens; Phylogeny; polypeptides; reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction; Scophthalmus maximus; signal transduction; Siniperca; Siniperca chuatsi; spleen; STAT3; STAT3 Transcription Factor - chemistry; STAT3 Transcription Factor - genetics; STAT3 Transcription Factor - metabolism; tissue distribution; transcription factors; turbot; Turbot ( Scophthalmus maximus); Vibrio anguillarum; Vibrio Infections - immunology; Vibrio Infections - metabolism; Vibrio Infections - veterinary; Vibrio anguillarum; Immune defense; Turbot ( Scophthalmus maximus); Hepcidin; STAT3
• ISSN: 1050-4648; 1095-9947
• DOI: 10.1016/j.fsi.2010.10.017

Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) acts as an important mediator in multiple biological processes induced by different cytokines. So far, little information is available in fish STAT3. In this study, turbot ( Scophthalmus maximus) STAT3 gene was cloned and characterized for the first time. The turbot STAT3 full-length cDNA consists of 2355 nucleotides encoding a polypeptide of 784 amino acids with four conserved domains including STAT_int, STAT_alpha, STAT_bind and SH2 domain. The phylogenetic tree showed that turbot STAT3 shared the closest relationship with mandarin fish ( Siniperca chuatsi) STAT3. The autoactivation experiment in yeast proved that turbot STAT3 was a strong transcription factor. The quantitative RT-PCR experiment indicated that Stat3 mRNA was expressed in widespread tissues with the highest expression levels in the liver. And the further expression patterns analysis revealed that turbot Stat3 expression levels were increased in liver, spleen, kidney of fish infected with Vibrio anguillarum and liver of fish infected with LCDV. Meantime, hepcidin, one of STAT3 target gene, was also up-regulated in liver of fish infected with two pathogens. These results suggested that turbot Stat3 may involved in the immune defense process as a transcription factor.