Characterization and functional analysis of chicken promyelocytic leukemia protein

Abstract

In mammals, promyelocytic leukemia (PML) protein, also named as TRIM19, is the key component of nuclear membrane-less sub structures PML nuclear bodies (PML-NBs) or nuclear domains 10 (ND10). PML-NBs are dynamic foci that consist of numerous permanently or transiently associated proteins. The mammalian PMLs are involved in the regulation of various cellular pathways, including apoptosis, intrinsic and innate antiviral immunity, cell cycle, DNA damage, senescence and etc. Nevertheless, little is known about the role of chicken PML (chPML). In this study, chPML gene was cloned, and its several functions were characterized. We found that chPML was widely expressed in different tissues of chickens, and showed different subcellular distribution pattern in DF-1 cells comparing with LMH and HD11 cells. Like human PML, chPML was identified to be SUMOylated. K463 is one critical SUMOylation site and 240RARRG244 is SUMO interaction motif (SIM) of chPML. Moreover, qPCR showed that chPML could not only up-regulate the expression of host innate immune factor IFN-β and its downstream ISGs, but also antigen presentation-related factors including class II transactivator (CIITA) and MHC II DM beta 2 (DMB2). Notably, over-expression of chIFN-β could promote the expression of endogenous chPML. All these provide novel insights into the function of chPML, and pave the way for further studying the roles of chPML in biological process and anti-infection function.