摘要
Bactericidal/permeability-increasing protein （BPI） and LPS-binding protein （LBP） play an important role in host defence. Current evidence shows that BPI/LBP may be widely existed in different cells and tissue types of animals. A full-length cDNA clone encoding a BPI/LBP homologue （dBPI）, 1757 bp in size, was characterized in venom gland of the hundred-pace snake Deinagkistrodon acutus. Its deduced amino acid sequence of 417 residues had 13.8% - 21.5% identity to BPI like 1 （BPIL1） and BPI like 3 （BPIL3） of other animals. Conserved cysteine residues which are involved in disulfide bond formation between the final strand of the N-terminal beta sheet and the long alpha helix of BPI are identified as Cys146-Cys183 of dBPI. Phylogenetic tree analysis showed that the BPI/LBP homologues formed five large clusters and dBPI was in a large cluster including BPIL1 and BPIL3. dBPI mRNA shows a tissue specific expression in venom gland. This is the first study to identify the cDNA encoding BPI/LBP homologues from reptiles [ Current Zoology 55 （5） ： 376 - 382, 2009].
基金
funded by a grant from the local government of Zhejiang Province for the Specially Supported Discipline of Zoology
