Molecular characterization of a new IgZ3 subclass in common carp ( Cyprinus carpio ) and comparative expression analysis of IgH transcripts during larvae development

Background Immunoglobulins (Igs) distributed among systemic immune tissues and mucosal immune tissues play important roles in protecting teleosts from infections in the pathogen-rich aquatic environment. Teleost IgZ/IgT subclasses with different tissue expression patterns may have different immune functions. Results In the present study, a novel secreted IgZ heavy chain gene was cloned and characterized in common carp ( Cyprinus carpio ). This gene exhibited a different tissue-specific expression profile than the reported genes IgZ1 and IgZ2. The obtained IgZ-like subclass gene designated Cc IgZ3, had a complete open reading frame contained 1650 bp encoding a protein of 549 amino acid residues. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that Cc IgZ3 was grouped with carp IgZ2 and was in the same branch as IgZ/IgT genes of other teleosts. Basal expression detection of the immunoglobulin heavy chain (IgH) in healthy adult common carp showed that Cc IgZ3 transcripts were widely expressed in systemic immune tissues and mucosal-associated lymphoid tissues. Cc IgZ3 was expressed at the highest levels in the head kidneys, gills, and gonads, followed by the spleen, hindgut, oral epithelium, liver, brain, muscle, foregut, and blood; it was expressed at a very low level in the skin. The transcript expression of Cc IgZ3 in leukocytes isolated from peripheral blood cells was significantly higher than that in leukocytes isolated from the spleen. Different groups of common carp were infected with Aeromonas hydrophila via intraperitoneal injection or immersion. RT-qPCR analysis demonstrated that significant differences in Cc IgZ3 mRNA levels existed between the immersion and injection groups in all the examined tissues, including the head kidney, spleen, liver, and hindgut; in particular, the Cc IgZ3 mRNA level in the hindgut was higher in the immersion group than in the injection group. The different routes of A. hydrophila exposure in common carp had milder effects on the IgM response than on the Cc IgZ3 response. Further study of the relative expression of the IgH gene during the development of common carp showed that the tissue-specific expression profile of Cc IgZ3 was very different from those of other genes. RT-qPCR analysis demonstrated that the Cc IgZ3 mRNA level increased gradually in common carp during the early larval development stage from 1 day post fertilization (dpf) to 31 dpf with a dynamic tendency similar to those of IgZ1 and IgZ2, and IgM was the dominant Ig with obviously elevated abundance. Analyses of the tissue-specific expression of IgHs in common carp at 65 dpf showed that Cc IgZ3 was expressed at mucosal sites, including both the hindgut and gill; in contrast, IgZ1 was preferentially expressed in the hindgut, and IgZ2 was preferentially expressed in the gill. In addition to RT-qPCR analysis, in situ hybridization was performed to detect Cc IgZ3-expressing cells and IgM-expressing cells. The results showed that Cc IgZ3 and IgM transcripts were detectable in the spleens, gills, and hindguts of common carp at 65 dpf. Conclusions These results reveal that Cc IgZ3 gene transcripts are expressed in common carp during developmental stage not only in systemic tissues but also in mucosal tissues. Cc IgZ3 expression can be induced in immune tissues by A. hydrophila challenge via immersion and intraperitoneal injection with significantly different expression profiles, which indicates that Cc IgZ3 is involved in the antimicrobial immune response and might play an important role in gut mucosal immunity.