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Characterization and differential expression analysis of Toxocara canis aquaporin-1 gene

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Abstract

Toxocara canis is an intestinal nematode of canids with a worldwide distribution, causing an important but neglected parasitic zoonosis in humans. Aquaporins (AQP) are a family of water channel proteins, which function as membrane channels to regulate water homeostasis. In this study, the coding sequence of aquaporin-1 gene of T. canis (Tc-aqp-1) was cloned and characterized. The obtained Tc-aqp-1 coding sequence was 933 bp in length, which predicted to encode 311 amino acids. Two conserved asparagine-proline-alanine (NPA) motifs were identified in the multiple sequence alignments. Phylogenetic analysis revealed the closest relationship between T. canis and Opisthorchis viverrini based on aquaporin-1 amino acid sequence. A structure was predicted with ligand binding sites predicted at H93, N95, N226, L94, I79, and I210 and with active sites predicted at I256 and G207. Gene Ontology (GO) annotations predicted its cellular component term of integral component of plasma membrane (GO: 0005887), molecular function term of channel activity (GO: 0015250), and biological process term of water transport (GO: 0006833). Tissue expression analysis revealed that the Tc-aqp-1 was highly expressed in the intestine of adult male. The findings of the present study provide the basis for further functional studies of T. canis aquaporin-1.

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Acknowledgments

This work was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 31172313) and the International Science & Technology Cooperation Program of China (No. 2013DFA31840).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Veterinary Medicine, Rongchang Campus, Southwest University, Chongqing, 402460, The People’s Republic of China

    Yong-Fang Luo, Ling Hu, Guang-Xu Ma, Yong-Li Luo, Sha-Sha Yin, Yi Xiong & Rong-Qiong Zhou

  2. State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Parasitology of Gansu Province, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou, Gansu Province, 730046, The People’s Republic of China

    Xing-Quan Zhu

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  1. Yong-Fang Luo
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  2. Ling Hu
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Correspondence to Xing-Quan Zhu or Rong-Qiong Zhou.

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Luo, YF., Hu, L., Ma, GX. et al. Characterization and differential expression analysis of Toxocara canis aquaporin-1 gene. Parasitol Res 115, 3631–3636 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-016-5129-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-016-5129-8

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