| 1. |
- Junkunlo, Kingkamon
(författare)
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Regulation of hematopoiesis in the freshwater crayfish, Pacifastacus leniusculus : role of transglutaminase
- 2017
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The freshwater crayfish, Pacifastacus leniusculus, has been used as a model for studying hematopoiesis or blood cell production or hematopoiesis and immunity. The work of this thesis aims to investigate the impact of factors such as ROS signaling, Ast1, and the PVF/PVR signaling pathway in controlling stem cell behavior during hematopoiesis and specifically the role of the crosslinking enzyme transglutaminase (TGase) in regulation of hematopoiesis.The role of ROS in crayfish hematopoiesis was characterized by using the antioxidant named NAC to inhibit ROS production. Low ROS level resulted in a prolonged decrease in hemocyte numbers and a combined injection of LPS and NAC caused a slower rate of new hemocyte production. A low ROS level in cell cultures supplemented with crude Ast1 was found to inhibit cell spreading and a high extracellular TGase activity was detected on the surfaces of APC and HPT cells. We suggest that ROS serves as a prime signal to control proliferation and differentiation of progenitor cells by affecting extracellular TGase activity. We reported an inhibitory effect of Ast1 on TGase enzyme activity and on its crosslinking activity and consequently Ast1 affects the clot formation and thus coagulation by inhibiting the crosslinking activity of the TGase enzyme. Secretion of the clot protein (CP) and the production of CP filament network between spreading cells were observed in HPT cell cultures in vitro. In the presence of CP together with Ast1 in 3D-collagen-I cultures, HPT cells were found to be more elongated and they formed chains of cells throughout the surrounding matrix. In the HPT tissue, CP was located around the HPT cells or around the lobules of HPT, and thus, CP was demonstrated to be a part of ECM and to possibly function together with collagen in generating a suitable environment for HPT progenitor cells. The inhibition of PVF/PVR downstream signaling pathway by Sunitinib malate resulted in a dramatic change of cell morphology and induction of an increase cell surface area during cell culture. The addition of crude Ast1 into the cell cultures in vitro enhanced this effect. Consequently, cell migration was stimulated and a high extracellular TGase activity on HPT cell surface was found after this inhibition. In conclusion, the work in this thesis provides new insight in understanding the role of the extracellular matrix (ECM) and extracellular TGase activity in controlling stem cell activity.
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| 2. |
- Lin, Xionghui, 1976-
(författare)
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Hematopoiesis in a Crustacean
- 2010
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Hemocytes (blood cells) play an important role in the immune response in invertebrates, and thus the regulation of hemocyte homeostasis (hematopoiesis) is essential for the host survival against pathogens. Astakine 1, a homologue to vertebrate prokineticins, was first identified in the freshwater crayfish Pacifastacus leniusculus as a cytokine, and was found to be necessary for new hemocyte synthesis and release in vivo, and also to induce spreading and proliferation of Hematopoietic tissue cells (Hpt cells, precursor of hemocytes) in vitro. The work of this thesis is aimed to further our understanding of the molecular mechanisms involved in astakine 1 induced hematopoiesis.Crayfish transglutaminase (Tgase) has been identified in the hemocytes, and is essential for the coagulation reaction. Interestingly this enzyme is exceedingly abundant in the Hpt cells, and the spreading of Hpt cells induced by astakine 1 was accompanied by sequential loss of TGase activity from the surface of these cells. This loss of TGase activity may be an important effect of astakine 1, resulting in recruiting new hemocytes into the circulatory system. Although astakine 1 contain a prokineticin domain, it lacks the conserved N-terminal AVIT motif present in its vertebrate homologues. This motif is important for vertebrate prokineticins to interact with their receptors, indicating a different receptor interaction for crayfish astakine 1. Astakine 1 was indeed found to interact with a completely different receptor, the β-subunit of ATP synthase, on a portion of Hpt cells, and subsequently block its extracellular ATP formation. Surface ATP synthase has been reported on numerous mammalian cells, but now for the first time in an invertebrate. The activity of ATP synthase on the Hpt cells may be important for the survival and proliferation of Hpt cells, but the underlying mechanisms remain further study. With the finding of a second type of astakine in crayfish, invertebrate astakines can be divided into two groups: astakine 1 and astakine 2. The properties of astakine 2 are different from those of astakine 1 both in structure and function. In primary cell culture of Hpt cells, only astakine 1 can promote proliferation as well as differentiation into semigranular cells, whereas astakine 2 may play a potential role in the maturation of granular cells. Moreover, a novel cysteine rich protein, Pacifastacus hematopoiesis factor (PHF), was found to be one target gene of astakine 1 in Hpt cells. Down regulation of PHF results in increased apoptosis in Hpt cells in vitro, and in vivo silencing PHF leads to a severe loss of hemocytes in the animal. Therefore astakine 1 acquires the anti-apoptosis ability by inducing its downstream gene PHF in the Hpt cells. With its ability to promote the survival, proliferation and differentiation of Hpt cells, astakine 1 is proven to be an important hematopoietic growth factor.
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| 3. |
- Liu, Haipeng, 1976-
(författare)
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Functional Studies of Some Immune Relevant Genes in a Crustacean
- 2008
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The freshwater crayfish, Pacifastacus leniusculus, mounts a strong innate immune response against microbes such as viruses and bacteria. In this thesis, a novel RNA interference (RNAi) method mediated with histone H2A was developed and applied in crayfish hematopoietic tissue cell cultures for gene functional studies. Further, the interactions between host (crayfish) and pathogens (white spot syndrome virus and Aeromonas hydrophila, respectively) were studied using RNAi technology in live animals. An antilipopolysaccharide factor isolated from viral challenged crayfish by suppression subtractive hybridization was shown to interfere with the propagation of white spot syndrome virus both in vivo and in vitro in crayfish, suggesting an important role of this factor in antiviral defense. Besides, RNAi of phenoloxidase, a critical immune effector involved in melanization, revealed that phenoloxidase activity is necessary for crayfish immune defense against a highly pathogenic bacterial infection in crayfish. In addition, RNAi was also employed to study a marker protein gene involved in hemocyte maturation in crayfish. Taken together, these studies may provide more insights into the immune responses against pathogen invasion as well as hemocyte ontogenesis in crustaceans.
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| 4. |
- Bagchi, Basabi, et al.
(författare)
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Sexual conflict drives micro- and macroevolution of sexual dimorphism in immunity
- 2021
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Ingår i: BMC Biology. - : BioMed Central (BMC). - 1741-7007. ; 19:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Sexual dimorphism in immunity is believed to reflect sex differences in reproductive strategies and trade-offs between competing life history demands. Sexual selection can have major effects on mating rates and sex-specific costs of mating and may thereby influence sex differences in immunity as well as associated host-pathogen dynamics. Yet, experimental evidence linking the mating system to evolved sexual dimorphism in immunity are scarce and the direct effects of mating rate on immunity are not well established. Here, we use transcriptomic analyses, experimental evolution and phylogenetic comparative methods to study the association between the mating system and sexual dimorphism in immunity in seed beetles, where mating causes internal injuries in females.RESULTS: We demonstrate that female phenoloxidase (PO) activity, involved in wound healing and defence against parasitic infections, is elevated relative to males. This difference is accompanied by concomitant sex differences in the expression of genes in the prophenoloxidase activating cascade. We document substantial phenotypic plasticity in female PO activity in response to mating and show that experimental evolution under enforced monogamy (resulting in low remating rates and reduced sexual conflict relative to natural polygamy) rapidly decreases female (but not male) PO activity. Moreover, monogamous females had evolved increased tolerance to bacterial infection unrelated to mating, implying that female responses to costly mating may trade off with other aspects of immune defence, an hypothesis which broadly accords with the documented sex differences in gene expression. Finally, female (but not male) PO activity shows correlated evolution with the perceived harmfulness of male genitalia across 12 species of seed beetles, suggesting that sexual conflict has a significant influence on sexual dimorphisms in immunity in this group of insects.CONCLUSIONS: Our study provides insights into the links between sexual conflict and sexual dimorphism in immunity and suggests that selection pressures moulded by mating interactions can lead to a sex-specific mosaic of immune responses with important implications for host-pathogen dynamics in sexually reproducing organisms.
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| 5. |
- Ekblom, Charlotta, 1991-
(författare)
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Immune defense reactions in freshwater crayfish : Cellular components
- 2024
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The freshwater signal crayfish, Pacifastacus leniusculus, is a well-established model for studying the immune system of invertebrates. Many important discoveries have been made in this species, among others related to the clotting reaction, hematopoiesis, the prophenoloxidase activating system, the functions of crustacean immune cells, and pathogen recognition. In this thesis, a small contribution is made to this body of work, with the focus on the crayfish cellular defence reactions to the fungal pattern recognition protein, beta-1,3,-glucans, and to an oomycete, the type of pathogen that causes crayfish plague. Through mapping the proteomic reaction in the hemocytes to beta-1,3,-glucan, and then studying some of the identified proteins in more detail, it brings us closer to understanding how these animals defend themselves against fungal infections without relying on adaptive immunity. A proteomic screening of hemocytes was conducted after an injection of laminarin, a beta-1,3,-glucan, and compared to the response to a saline injection and un-injected controls. When compared to both control groups, three proteins were specific to the laminarin group: a glycine-rich peptide, a Kazal-type proteinase inhibitor, and one putative chitin-binding protein; none of which had been previously described. Three other proteins were upregulated in both the saline and the laminarin group: one invertebrate-type (i-type) lysozyme, one crustin, and masquerade. The glycine-rich peptide and the i-type lysozyme were both investigated in detail for their potential functions in the immune- and wounding responses. The peptide was found to be expressed in several tissues, and have a specific activity against the crayfish plague pathogen Aphanomyces astaci, with no effect against any other tested species of oomycete, fungi or bacteria. The i-type lysozyme (Pl-ilys), which was muramidase deficient and therefore likely not involved in antibacterial defence, was found to be able to destabilise clots formed from the crayfish clotting protein and transglutaminase. This result indicated a possible new function for muramidase-deficient i-type lysozymes in crustaceans. A single-cell RNA-sequencing study was also conducted to investigate the types of blood cells and hematopoietic stem cells in P. leniusculus, the result of which shows that there are several potential subtypes among the of granular, semi-granular, hyaline and hematopoietic cells.
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| 6. |
- Wilhelmsson, Christine, 1973-
(författare)
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Proteomics of the Drosophila hemolymph clot and the function of transglutaminase
- 2009
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Insects rely on a fast and effective coagulation and wound response to avoid loss of body fluids and immobilize pathogens. Arthropod coagulation is in some respect equivalent to vertebrate coagulation but most factors and the regulation of coagulation systems seem not to be phylogenetically conserved. To get a more complete picture of insect clotting we studied the molecular and functional nature of Drosophila hemolymph coagulation. We developed new proteomic methods to collect Drosophila clotting factors. Several candidate factors were identified, including both predicted and novel clot proteins. Five putative TG (transglutaminase) substrates were found and we could also demonstrate that the clot is involved in immobilization of bacteria. Further investigating the role of TG we found TG to be important for Drosophila coagulation and that Fondue is a major substrate of the enzyme. Using fon RNAi knockdown we showed that Fondue affects the physical properties of the clot. A fon-GFP fusion construct was generated to follow its expression. The cuticle and the clot were labelled suggesting that Fondue is incorporated into both cuticle and clot. Clot properties and composition were affected by inhibiting TG chemically (MDC) and genetically (RNAi). Moreover, interaction between Fondue and Eig71Ee was demonstrated. Previous results indicated that coagulation could have an immune function. In hemolymph preparations, containing selected microorganisms, small deposits were seen on the microbial surfaces. The contents of these were investigated, revealing the presence of procoagulants. The targeting of microbes is instant and depends on TG and its substrates. Entomopathogenic nematode infections were performed to validate the functional importance of TG. TG RNAi knockdown larvae showed increased mortality, supporting an immune function for TG. Altogether, our data provide a more comprehensive picture of Drosophila immunity, and may further improve the understanding of innate immunity in general.
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