Cloning and Immune Response Analysis of Protein Kinase C-alpha (PKCα) in Chinese Tongue Sole (Cynoglossus semilaevis)

Abstract:

Protein kinase C (PKC) plays an important role in T and B lymphocyte-mediated immune response. However, the function of PKC is rarely reported in teleost fish. In this study, we have cloned the PKCα gene (namely CsPKCα), a typical member of the PKC family, and characterized its molecular features and expression pattern. CsPKCα cDNA is 2315 bp in length, with an open reading frame (ORF) of 2013 bp. qRT-PCR analysis showed that CsPKCα was expressed in various tissues, with a high transcription levels in the gill, liver, skin, and intestine, suggesting that it may play a role in immunity. Subsequently, we examined the expression of CsPKCα at different time points in six immune-related tissues (the gill, liver, skin, intestine, spleen, and kidney) after infection with Vibrio harveyi. CsPKCα was significantly upregulated in the gill, kidney, skin, and spleen at 24 h or 48 h post-infection (hpi) and downregulated in the liver at 12 hpi. The results suggested that PKCα might be involved in the immune response to V. harveyi; however, whether it is involved in macrophage activation during bacterial pathogen infection and the signaling pathways associated with T and B cells requires further investigation. This is the first report, to our knowledge, on the involvement of PKCα in the immune response to bacterial infection in fish.