科研之友
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摘要
Transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta) is an important cytokine with pleiotropic regulatory functions in the immune system and in the responses against viral infections. TGF-beta acts on a variety of immune cells through the cell surface TGF-beta receptor (University of Duisburg-EssenTGFBR). The woodchuck has been used as a biomedical model for studies of obesity and energy balance, endocrine and metabolic function, cardiovascular, cerebrovascular and neoplastic disease. Woodchucics infected with woodchuck hepatitis virus (WHV) represent an informative animal model to study hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. In this study, the cDNA sequences of woodchuck TGF-beta 1, TGF-beta 2, TGFBR1 and TGFBR2 were cloned, sequenced and characterized. The full-length TGFBR1 cDNA sequence consisted of 1305 by coding sequence (CDS) that encoded 434 amino acids with a molecular weight of 48.9 kDa. The phylogenetic tree analysis revealed that the woodchucic TGF-beta family genes had a closer genetic relationship with Ictidomys tridecemlineatus. One antibody with cross-reactivity to woodchuck TGFBR1 was identified by flow cytometry. Moreover, the expression of these genes were analyzed at the transcriptional level. The quantitative PCR analysis showed that the TGF-beta family transcripts were constitutively expressed in many tissues tested. Altered expression levels of the TGF-beta family transcripts in the liver of WHV infected woodchucks were observed. These results serve as a foundation for further insight into the role of the TGF-beta family in viral hepatitis in woodchuck model. Our work also possesses the potential value for characterizing the TGF-beta family in other related diseases, such as obesity-related diseases, metabolic disorder, cardiovascular disease and cancer.
- 出版日期2016-12-20
- 单位华中科技大学
