Publications by authors named "Shanaka K"

The tripartite motif-containing (TRIM) superfamily is the largest family of RING-type E3 ubiquitin ligases that is conserved across the metazoan kingdom. Previous studies in mammals have demonstrated that TRIM59 possesses ubiquitin-protein ligase activity and acts as a negative regulator of NF-κB signaling. However, TRIM59 has rarely been characterized in fish.

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Erythropoietic protoporphyria (EPP1) results in painful photosensitivity and severe liver damage in humans due to the accumulation of fluorescent protoporphyrin IX (PPIX). While zebrafish () models for porphyria exist, the utility of ferrochelatase () knockout zebrafish, which exhibit EPP, for therapeutic screening and biological studies remains unexplored. This study investigated the use of clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/Cas9-mediated -knockout zebrafish larvae as a model of EPP1 for drug screening.

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Viperin is a prominent antiviral protein found in animals. The primary function of Viperin is the production of 3'-deoxy-3',4'-didehydro-cytidine triphosphate (ddhCTP), an inhibitory nucleotide involved in viral RNA synthesis. Studies in mammalian models have suggested that ddhCTP interferes with metabolic proteins.

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Myeloid differentiation primary response protein-88 (MYD88) is an essential adaptor molecule in pathogen-related pattern recognition signaling pathways. Toll-like and interleukin receptors recognize numerous signals and are funneled through MyD88 to express genes responsible for the innate and adaptive immune systems. In the present study, the relevance of MyD88 in viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV) was investigated by generating myd88 zebrafish.

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Article Synopsis
  • The SOCS protein family includes eight members that act as feedback inhibitors for cytokine signaling, with specific roles of some proteins being less understood.
  • Phsocs5b, a SOCS member in the redlip mullet, is characterized by its specific structure and high expression in brain tissue; it plays a key role in the immune response and has demonstrated anti-viral properties.
  • Overexpression of Phsocs5b in FHM cells was shown to suppress viral infection, enhance pro-inflammatory cytokines, and may play a part in cell growth and migration, suggesting its potential as a therapeutic target to bolster immune responses.
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Viperin is an important virus-induced protein in animals that negatively participates in RNA viral replication and transcription. The reactive machinery of viperin suggests that it produces a regulatory molecule ddhCTP, which may affect immune regulation. In this study, we investigated the expression pattern of viperin in larval and adult stages of zebrafish by whole-mount in situ hybridization and reverse transcription-quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR).

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Amphiprion clarkii is increasingly being used as a captive-bred ornamental fish in South Korea. However, its breeding has recently been greatly hindered by destructive diseases due to pathogens. B-cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl2), a mitochondrial apoptosis regulatory gene involved in immune responses, has not been investigated in anemonefish, including A.

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Clusterin (CLU) is a glycoprotein that contains α- and β-chains. CLU exerts multifunctional activities and plays a role in different cell signaling pathways that are associated with various diseases such as proteotoxic and oxidative stress, as well as cell death and survival. However, its role in marine teleost fish remains unclear.

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Viperin is known to exhibit activity against RNA viral infection. Viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV) is a negative-sense single-stranded RNA virus that causes severe loss in aquaculture species. Susceptible species include redlip mullets (Liza haematocheila), which has become an economically important euryhaline mugilid species in offshore aquaculture along the west coast of Korea.

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Remedies toward sustainable aquaculture rely upon research that unveils the molecular mechanisms behind host immunity and their interactions with pathogens. Antiviral defense is a major innate immune response in fish. The antiviral protein GCHV-induced gene-2 (Gig2), a member of the interferon-stimulated gene (ISG), was identified and characterized from rockfish (Sebastes schlegelii).

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Loss of L-gulonolactone oxidase (), which catalyzes the last step of the ascorbic acid (AA) biosynthesis pathway, results in a complete lack of AA in several Osteichthyes fish species, including zebrafish. In this study, , the active gene from cloudy catshark () was cloned into zebrafish using the Gateway cloning method. The resulting fish were analyzed for the effects of a reestablished AA pathway.

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Animal defense system constitutes a series of distinct mechanisms that specifically defend against microbial invasion. Understanding these complex biological mechanisms is of paramount importance for implementing disease prevention strategies. In this study, the transcription factor, Akirin-2 was identified from ornamental fish Amphiprion clarkii and its involvement in immune response was characterized.

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Calreticulin (CRT) is a multifunctional ubiquitous protein that is widely presented in all cells in eukaryotes except erythrocytes. CRT is well known for diverse cellular functions such as endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-specialized protein quality control during protein synthesis and folding, in-vivo Ca homeostasis, antigen presentation, phagocytosis, wound-healing, proliferation, adhesion, and migration of cells. In the current study, we identified CRT from Hippocampus abdominalis (HaCRT) and analyzed expression profiles and functional properties.

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Malectin is a carbohydrate-binding lectin protein found in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). It selectivity binds to Glc-N-glycan and is involved in a glycoprotein quality control mechanism. Even though malectin may play a role in immunity, its role in innate immunity is not fully known.

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Innate immunity is characterized by nonspecific, prompt reactions toward armada of antigens. Animals funnel down a repertoire of immune stimulants to activate non-selective defense mechanisms rapidly. This study was conducted to characterize the rockfish (Sebastes schlegelii) adaptor protein MyD88 (SsMyD88), which interacts with both toll-like receptors and interleukin receptors.

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Article Synopsis
  • - Viperin (or RSAD2) is an antiviral protein that’s typically found in the endoplasmic reticulum and is known to increase in response to viral RNA; this study focuses on its role in rockfish (SsVip) and explores how it’s affected by immune stimulants and where it's located in the cell.
  • - SsVip is a protein made up of 349 amino acids, peaking in expression in the blood and spleen of rockfish, especially after immune challenges like poly I:C, where it increases up to 60-fold in the blood within 24 hours.
  • - The study discovered that higher levels of SsVip lead to reduced virus replication and downregulation of viral genes, highlighting
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Human papilloma virus (HPV) causes cervical cancer in women and approximately 700 deaths have been reported annually in Sri Lanka due to this cancer. Despite, attempts have not been made to investigate the prevalence of HPV amongst Sri Lankan women with normal cytology. In this study, a polymerase chain reaction based assay was set up to detect HPV in both normal and abnormal cytology and the positive samples were then tested for the genotypes, HPV 16 and HPV 18 as they have been identified as the high-risk types associating with cervical cancer.

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