Molecular cloning and expression of MyD88 in large yellow croaker, Pseudosciaena crocea

Myeloid differentiation factor 88 (MyD88) is an adaptor protein involved in the interleukin-1 receptor and Toll-like receptor-induced activation of nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-κB). In this report, the full-length cDNA of MyD88 was cloned from the large yellow croaker, Pseudosciaena crocea. It was of 1574 bp, including a 5′-terminal untranslated region (UTR) of 89 bp, a 3′-terminal UTR of 621 bp and an open reading frame (ORF) of 864 bp encoding a polypeptide of 287 amino acids. It contained a typical death domain at the N-terminal and a conservative Toll/IL-1R (TIR) domain structure at the C-terminal. The quantitative real-time reverse transcription PCR analysis revealed a broad expression of MyD88 with the highest expression in the spleen and the weakest expression in the muscle. The expression of MyD88 after challenge with formalin-inactivated Gram-negative bacterium Vibrio parahaemolyticus was tested in blood, spleen and liver. It suggested that the highest expression was in the spleen (p < 0.05) with 1.9 times (at 48 h) as much as that in the control and the lowest expression of MyD88 was in the liver (p < 0.05) with 0.29 times (at 3 h) of that in the control. These results indicated that as a universal key adaptor in the Toll-like receptor pathway in mammals, MyD88 might play an important role in large yellow croaker defense against pathogenic infection.