A Novel Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor Participates in White Spot Syndrome Virus Infection in Litopenaeus vannamei

Abstract

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) signaling pathway is known to play key roles in endothelial cell proliferation, migration, angiogenesis, vascular permeability, inhibition of apoptosis, and virus infection. In the present study, a novel VEGFR gene (LvVEGFR2) was identified and characterized from Litopenaeus vannamei. The deduced amino acid sequence of LvVEGFR2 possessed typical features of VEGFRs reported in other species, including six IG-like domains, a transmembrane motif, a protein kinase (PK) domain, and one tyrosine-PK active site. The transcripts of LvVEGFR2 were mainly detected in hemocytes and lymphoid organ (Oka). Subcellular localization analysis showed that LvVEGFR2 was a membrane protein. Its expression level was obviously upregulated in hemocytes and Oka of the shrimp after white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) infection. Knockdown of LvVEGFR2 gene expression by double-strand RNA mediated interference could lead to a decrease of virus copy number in WSSV-infected shrimp. The interaction between LvVEGFR2 and different LvVEGFs (LvVEGF1, LvVEGF2, and LvVEGF3) in shrimp was analyzed at the transcription level and protein level, respectively. Knockdown of LvVEGF2 or LvVEGF3 could downregulate the expression level of LvVEGFR2, and injection of the recombinant LvVEGF2 or LvVEGF3 could upregulate the expression level of LvVEGFR2. Yeast two-hybrid analysis showed that LvVEGFR2 could interact with LvVEGF2 and LvVEGF3 directly. The study improved our understanding on the VEGF signaling pathway of shrimp and its role during WSSV infection.

Comparison of the Vitreous Fluid Bacterial Microbiomes between Individuals with Post Fever Retinitis and Healthy Controls

“…Four signalling pathways were also enriched in PFR group compared to control group (Figure 7). This enrichment was expected because these pathways are involved in infection like Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) pathway which facilitates interaction between pathogens and host cells [53], the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) which is important in modulating host and pathogen interactions [54], epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) which modulates cell survival, proliferation, differentiation, and migration/invasion [55], and Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) which gets activated during bacterial infection [53]. The enrichment of all these pathways in PFR may also be associated with the secretions of inflammatory cytokines and host cell apoptosis in response to retinitis in PFR group.…”

Single-cell RNA-seq analysis reveals penaeid shrimp hemocyte subpopulations and cell differentiation process

“…Thus, Hem 5 is predicted to be the group that contributes to the immune response against viruses. Additionally, a virus infection causes an increase in the expression of both VEGF and its receptors in hemocytes to regulate a downstream signaling pathway (62)(63)(64). The high expression of PDGF/VEGF-related factors at Hem 5 (Fig.…”

dSeqSb: A systems biology approach to decipher dynamics of host-pathogen interactions using temporal dual RNA-seq data

“…Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), also enriched in this module, is known to play crucial roles in endothelial cell proliferation, migration, angiogenesis, vascular permeability, inhibition of apoptosis, and pathogen infection. This pathway is also involved in the interaction between pathogens and host cells as pathogens are able to encode VEGF homologs which bind to the VGFR receptor (VEGFR-2) of the host cells and then contribute to the infection process (82).…”