Identification, characterization and the inflammatory regulating effect of NOD1/2 in sturgeon.

As an ancient species with both conservation and commercial value, Sturgeon's inflammatory regulation mechanism is a research point. Nucleotide-binding and oligomerization domain-containing proteins 1 and 2 (NOD1/2) are classical intracellular pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) in immunity of anti-bacterial infection. However, the characterization and function of NOD1/2 in Sturgeon are still unclear. In this study, we analyzed the synteny relationship of NOD1/2 genes between Acipenser ruthenus and representative fishes at the genome-level. Results showed that the ArNOD2 collinear genes pair was present in all representative fishes. The duplicated ArNOD1/2 genes were under purifying selection during evolution as indicated by their Ka/Ks values. To explore the function of NOD1/2, we further investigated their expression patterns and the effects of pathogenic infection, PAMPs treatment, and siRNA interference in Acipenser baerii, the sibling species of A. ruthenus. Results showed that both AbNOD1/2 were expressed at early developmental stages and in different tissues. Pathogenic infection in vivo and PAMPs treatment in vitro demonstrated that AbNOD1/2 could respond to pathogen stimulation. siRNA interference with AbNOD1/2 inhibited expression levels of RIPK2 and inflammatory cytokines compared to the control group after iE-DAP or MDP treatment. This study hinted that the AbNOD1/2 could stimulate the inflammatory cytokines response during evolutionary processes.