The polymeric immunoglobulin (Ig) receptor-like (pIgRL) molecules have
been identified in teleost fish. However, compare to the functional
studies of their related genes (mammalian CD300 family, et al) in
eliminating pathogen invasion while preserving homeostasis, the roles of
pIgRL in teleost fish remain unclear. In this study, we demonstrated
that a pair of pIgRL molecules in zebrafish, pIgRL3.5 and pIgRL4.2, were
highly expressed in the intestine and immune cells. Moreover, we
constructed an Edwardsiella piscicida infection model, which
induced strong inflammatory responses in the zebrafish intestine.
Interestingly, pIgRL3.5 and pIgRL4.2 exhibited opposite inducible
expression patterns in response to bacterial infection, suggesting that
they perform different roles. More importantly, by conducting
overexpression and knockdown experiments, our findings demonstrated that
zebrafish pIgRL3.5 played a protective role in the host defense against
E. piscicida infection by inhibiting excessive inflammatory
responses. In contrast, pIgRL4.2 facilitated pathogen growth and
dissemination in zebrafish intestine. Collectively, our findings were
the first to demonstrate that a pair of pIgRL molecules in teleost fish
play opposite roles in mucosal immune response to bacterial infection.
Therefore, our results provide crucial insights into the conserved role
of pIgRL molecules in immune regulatory functions throughout vertebrate
evolution.