Characterization and expression analysis of a caspase-2 in an invertebrate echinoderm sea cumber Apostichopus japonicus

• A caspase-2 homolog in sea cucumber was identified and named as AjCASP.
• AjCASP consists of a conserved CARD-CASP2 domain and a CASs domain.
• A p20 large subunit and a p10 small subunit were identified in CASs domain.
• Native AjCASP is ubiquitously expressed in sea cucumber tissues.

Caspase-2 is the most evolutionarily conserved member of the caspase family which mediates the programmed cell death and plays crucial roles in key cellular processes. In this study, a caspase-2 homolog was identified and functionally characterized in sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus, which we named AjCASP. The full-length cDNA consists of 2100 bp with an ORF encoding a protein of 378 amino acids. The deduced amino acid sequence shows that AjCASP consists of a conserved CARD-CASP2 domain and a CASs domain containing two active residues, two proteolytic cleavage residues, a substrate pocket and a dimer interface as well. In addition, a p20 large subunit with a characteristic five-peptide motif (QACRG) and a p10 small subunit in C-terminal were identified in CASs domain. Above data demonstrated that AjCASP is similar to CED-3 (the caspase-2 homolog of nematode Caenorhabditis elegans), which is further confirmed by phylogenetic tree analysis. AjCASP was ubiquitously expressed in sea cucumber and the obviously higher expression level was observed in coelomocyte, respiratory tree and intestine. Real-time PCR analyses further demonstrated that AjCASP was significantly induced by LPS. Taken together, these results strongly suggest that AjCASP is a caspase-2 homolog and it may be involved in invertebrate immune response, especially in eliminating and degrading invading pathogens.