ATG10 (autophagy-related 10) regulates the formation of autophagosome in the anti-virus immune response of pacific oyster (Crassostrea gigas).

Autophagy, a highly conserved intracellular degradation system, is involved in numerous processes in vertebrate and invertebrate, such as cell survival, ageing, and immune responses. However, the detailed molecular mechanism of autophagy and its immune regulatory role in bivalves are still not well understood. In the present study, an autophagy-related protein ATG10 (designated as CgATG10) was identified from Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas. The open reading frame of CgATG10 cDNA was of 621 bp, encoding a polypeptide of 206 amino acid residues with an Autophagy_act_C domain (from 96 to 123 amino acid), which shared high homology with that from C. virginica and Octopus bimaculoides. The mRNA transcripts of CgATG10 were widely expressed in all the tested tissues including mantle, gonad, gills, hemocytes and hepatopancreas, with the highest expression level in mantle. After the stimulation with poly (I:C), the mRNA expression level of CgATG10 in the mantle of oysters was significantly up-regulated (4.92-fold of that in Blank group, p < 0.05), and the LC3-conversion from LC3-I to LC3-II (LC3-II/LC3-I) also increased. After an additional injection of dsRNA to knock-down the expression of CgATG10 (0.33-fold and 0.10-fold compared respectively with Blank group and dsGFP group, p < 0.05), the downstream conversion of CgLC3 was inhibited significantly compared with that of the control dsGFP group, while the expression level of autophagy-initiator CgBeclin1 did not change significantly. In addition, the mRNA transcripts of interferon regulatory factor CgIRF-1 increased significantly in CgATG10-knockdown oysters at 12 h post poly (I:C) stimulation. All the results indicated that CgATG10 might participate in the immune response against poly (I:C) by regulating autophagosome formation and interferon system in oysters.