Identification and isolation of stimulator of interferon genes (STING): an innate immune sensory and adaptor gene from camelids.

The mechanism by which type I interferon-mediated antiviral response is mounted by hosts against invading pathogen is an intriguing one. Of late, an endoplasmic reticulum transmembrane protein encoded by a gene called stimulator of interferon genes (STING) is implicated in the innate signalling pathways and has been identified and cloned in few mammalian species including human, mouse and pig. In this article, we report the identification of STING from three different species of a highly conserved family of mammals - the camelids. cDNAs encoding the STING of Old World camels - dromedary camel (Camelus dromedarius) and bactrian camel (Camelus bactrianus) and a New World camel - llama (Llama glama) were amplified using conserved primers and RACE. The complete STING cDNA of dromedary camel is 2171 bp long with a 706-bp 5' untranslated regions (UTR), an 1137-bp open reading frame (ORF) and a 328-bp 3' UTR. Sequence and phylogenetic analysis of the ORF of STING from these three camelids indicate high level of similarity among camelids and conservation of critical amino acid residues across different species. Quantitative real-time PCR analysis revealed high levels of STING mRNA expression in blood, spleen, lymph node and lung. The identification of camelid STING will help in better understanding of the role of this molecule in the innate immunity of the camelids and other mammals.