Cloning and characterization of type II interleukin-1 receptor cDNA from Japanese flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus)

The type II interleukin-1 receptor (IL-1RII) cDNA was cloned from Japanese flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus) by mRNA differential display (DD-PCR) and rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE). The full-length cDNA is 1793 bp in length, including a 100 bp 5′-terminal untranslated region (UTR), a 430 bp 3′-terminal UTR, and a 1263 bp open reading frame (ORF). The ORF encodes 420 amino acid residues with an estimated molecular mass of 46.65 kDa. The protein possesses signature features of the IL-R family, consisting of one N-terminal signal peptide, one transmembrane (TM) domain, two Ig-like domains in its extracellular region, one short cytoplasmic tail of 17 amino acids and four conserved proline residue sites. The predicted amino acid sequence has 65.3%, 52.5% and 51.6% identity with gilthead seabream, rainbow trout and Atlantic salmon IL-1RII, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis supported a close relation to mammalian IL-1RII. Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) analysis indicated that the IL-1RII gene expression of Japanese flounder was weakly up-regulated and reached the peak expression in the kidney, spleen, and gill at 6 h after infection with Vibrio anguillarum, at 1.9, 2.0 and 1.5 times relative to the uninfected fish, respectively. These results suggest that IL-1RII has a signal transduction function and possibly plays a minor role in immune regulation against bacterial(s) infection in Japanese flounder.