The molecular characterization and expression of heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) and 26 (Hsp26) cDNAs in sea cucumber (Apostichopus japonicus)

Abstract

The heat shock proteins (HSPs) are a family of proteins whose expression is enhanced in response to environmental stressors. The Apostichopus japonicus hsp90 and hsp26 genes were cloned using expressed sequence tag and rapid amplification of cDNA ends techniques. The full-length cDNA of Aphsp90 and Aphsp26 contains 3,458 and 1,688 nucleotides encoding 720 and 236 amino acids, respectively. Multiple alignments indicated that the deduced amino acid sequences of ApHsp90 and ApHsp26 shared a high level of identity with Hsp90 and small SHPs (sHSPs) sequences of zebrafish, ant, acorn worms, etc., and shared identical structural features with Hsp90 and sHSPs. The expression profiles of these two genes under heat treatment were investigated by real-time quantitative PCR. It was found that the messenger RNA (mRNA) transcripts of the two A. japonicus genes varied among different tissues under normal conditions and heat shock, and that the mRNA expression of the two genes was higher in the intestine compared to other tissues. Heat shock significantly elevated the expression of Aphsp90 and Aphsp26 mRNA in a temperature- and time-dependent manner. The results indicate that Aphsp90 and Aphsp26 played important roles in mediating the environmental stress in A. japonicus.

Genome-wide comparative analysis of theSHSP,HSP60/10andHSP90genes reveals differential heat stress responses in estivation of the sea cucumberApostichopus japonicus

“…AjHSP24.3-29.8, AjSHSP26.1 has been reported to be involved in the response to heat shock in a previous study, which was consistent with our findings (Zhao et al, 2011).…”

“…Some HSPs , such as HSP27 , which is also in Class I of SHSP , have been reported to be involved in apoptosis by binding and inhibiting members of the apoptotic cascade, so they have a significant role in protection against apoptosis (Acunzo et al, ; Creagh et al, ; Kalmar & Greensmith, ). Furthermore, among AjHSP24.3‐29.8 , AjSHSP26.1 has been reported to be involved in the response to heat shock in a previous study, which was consistent with our findings (Zhao et al, ).…”

“…In sea cucumbers, some important members of HSPs , such as GRP78 and HSP26 , have been identified (Wang et al, ; Zhao, Yang, Zhao, Chen, & Wang, ). However, a systematic analysis of SHSP , HSP60/10 and HSP90 and their involvement in estivation has not been conducted in the sea cucumber.…”

Expression pattern of heat shock proteins during acute thermal stress in the Antarctic sea urchin, Sterechinus neumayeri

“…Studies regarding the expression of Hsp90 has been done primarily in marine invertebrates, demonstrating that their induction is possible against factors such as thermal stress, hypoxia, osmotic stress and presence of bacteria [42]. Little information exists about the expression of this gene in Echinoderms, where the increase of the Hsp90 expression in thermal stress has been document only in the sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus [43,44]. The expression of Hsp90 under thermal stress in S. neumayeri was similar in the two tissues analyzed, showing a tendency to increase its expression at 3°C at 48 h, but not at a higher temperature (5°C).…”

Molecular characterization of two novel molecular chaperones in bacterial-challenged Apostichopus japonicus

“…A class of ER stress proteins like members from heat shock proteins (HSPs) family serve as molecular chaperones and are induced in response to ER stress and then involved in protein folding and assembly (Kaufman, 1999). As common member of HSPs family, different sizes of HSPs were well-documented in a wide range of organisms Zhao et al, 2011;Xu et al, 2014). However, knowledge on other class of ER stress proteins with the similar conserved domains, such as 78 kDa glucose-regulated protein (GRP78) and protein disulfide isomerase (PDI), remain largely unclear, especially their connection with host immune regulation.…”