Cloning and Characterization of Grass Carp (Ctenopharyngodon Idella) IL-23 Receptor

Abstract

IL-23 receptor (IL-23R), one member of IL-23 receptor complex family, is expressed by both T cells and NK cells, including NKL cells. It can bind to IL-23 and activate the Jak-Stat signaling cascade. Soluble IL-23R can block IL-23 signal by reducing the RORt expression. In this study, we isolated and identified the cDNA sequence of grass carp IL-23R (gcIL-23R). By using the bioinformatics approaches, we analysis the cDNA of grass carp IL-23R which encodes a peptide of 862 amino acids and is 30-78% identities to its homologs in other fish species. Moreover, zebrafish and grass carp IL-23R shared relatively low amino acid identities with human homolog. Further gene organization analysis showed gcIL-23R possesses five extra exons and an additional FN3 Superfamily domain compared with human counterpart. These data facilitate our understanding of IL-23R involving in fish immunity.