Molecular Cloning And Characterization Of PDZ Homologues From Echinococcus Granulosus In Xinjiang

Objective:To clone and characterize EgPDZ from Echinococcus granulosus (Eg) protoscolex, which has the same domain as PSD-95, Dlg and ZO-1 (PDZ), and was analyzed by bioinformatics. Methods:The specific primers for EgPDZ were designed and the EgPDZ gene was amplified by RT-PCR from Eg protoscolex RNA. Then the EgPDZ gene fragment was cloned into pMD18-T vector for sequencing and analyzed by bioinformatics method. Results:The PCR products of EgPDZ was about 600 bp and identified as a new gene by sequence analysis, named as EgPDZ, whose length is 627 bp and encode 208 amino acid which has a PI of 4.76. The SMART analysis predicts that, the 16th to 88th amino acid of EgPDZ protein is PDZ domain. The bioinformatics analysis shows that, the EgPDZ sequence is 97.60% identity to EmPDZ and 18.16%-26.42% identity to PDZ gene of other species, such as schistosome and human being etc. However, The PDZ domain sequence of EgPDZ gene has a higher identity to that of other species is about 42.47%-98.63%. Phylogenetic analysis showed that EgPDZ clustered with EmPDZ, and has a lower homology to other species. Conclusion:A new EgPDZ gene was cloned from protoscolex of Echinococcus granulosus, which laid a foundation for further study of EgPDZ function in the host-Eg interaction.