[Shi, Yan
; Hong, Xiaoyou
; Chen, Kunci
; Zhu, Xinping] Chinese Acad Fishery Sci, Minist Agr, Pearl River Fishery Res Inst, Key Lab Trop & Subtrop Fishery Resource Applicat, Guangzhou 510380, Guangdong, Peoples R China
; [Zhao, Zhe] Chinese Acad Sci, South China Sea Inst Oceanol, Key Lab Trop Marine Bioresources & Ecol, Guangzhou 510301, Guangdong, Peoples R China
The voltage-dependent anion channel (VDAC) is a highly conserved integral protein of mitochondria in different eukaryotic species. It forms a selective channel in the mitochondrial outer membrane that serves as the controlled pathway for small metabolites and ions. In this study, a VDAC gene, EcVDAC1, was isolated from orange-spotted grouper (Epinephelus coioides). The EcVDAC1 exhibits ubiquitous expression in various tissues of orange-spotted grouper and is upregulated in liver, gill, and spleen after stimulation with lipopolysaccharides (LPS). Subcellular localization analysis shows that the EcVDAC1 protein colocalized with the mitochondria. A caspase-3 assay demonstrates that overexpression of the EcVDAC1 induced apoptotic cell death in fathead minnow cells. The data presented in this study provide new information regarding the relationship between LPS and the EcVDAC1 gene, suggesting that the fish VDAC1 gene may play an important role in antibacterial immune response. (C) 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
