MOLECULAR CLONING AND EXPRESSION ANALYSIS OF A TRANSLATIONALLY CONTROLLED TUMOR PROTEIN (TCTP) GENE FROM SOLEN GRANDIS

In the present study, a translationally controlled tumor protein (TCTP) gene was identified from Solen grandis (designated as SgTCTP). The full-length cDNA of SgTCTP was of 1055bp, containing a 5’ untranslated region (UTR) of 54bp, a 3’ UTR of 461bp with a poly (A) tail, and an open reading frame (ORF) of 537bp encoding a polypeptide of 179 amino acids with the predicted molecular weight of 19.96kDa. The expression patterns both in tissues and towards pathogen associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) stimulation were then characterized by real-time PCR. SgTCTP was constitutively expressed in all tested tissues, including mantle, gill, gonad, hemocyte, muscle, and hepatopancreas, and it was highly expressed in hepatopancreas. The mRNA expression of SgTCTP could be induced by stimulation of β-1,3-glucan, LPS and PGN. The expression level of SgTCTP reached the peak at 12h and 3h post LPS and PGN stimulation, respectively. After β-1,3-glucan stimulation, SgTCTP expression reached the maximal level at 12h post stimulation, which was 11.76-fold compared with the blank group. All these results indicated that SgTCTP was an acute-phase protein involved in the immune response of S. grandis.