Click here to close Hello! We notice that you are using Internet Explorer, which is not supported by Xenbase and may cause the site to display incorrectly. We suggest using a current version of Chrome, FireFox, or Safari.
XB-ART-5474
Immunogenetics 2003 Apr 01;551:29-37. doi: 10.1007/s00251-003-0552-2.
Show Gene links Show Anatomy links

Molecular cloning and characterization of novel ficolins from Xenopus laevis.

Kakinuma Y , Endo Y , Takahashi M , Nakata M , Matsushita M , Takenoshita S , Fujita T .


???displayArticle.abstract???
Ficolins are proteins characterized by the presence of collagen- and fibrinogen-like domains. Two of three human ficolins, L-ficolin and H-ficolin, are serum lectins and are thought to play crucial roles in host defense through opsonization and complement activation. To elucidate the evolution of ficolins and the primordial complement lectin pathway, we cloned four ficolin cDNAs from Xenopus laevis, termed Xenopus ficolin (XeFCN) 1, 2, 3 and 4. The deduced amino acid sequences of the four ficolins revealed the conserved collagen- and fibrinogen-like domains. The full sequences of the four ficolins showed a 42-56% identity to human ficolins, and 60-83% between one another. Northern blots showed that XeFCN1 was expressed mainly in liver, spleen and heart, and XeFCN2 and XeFCN4 mainly in peripheral blood leukocytes, lung and spleen. We isolated ficolin proteins from Xenopus serum by affinity chromatography on N-acetylglucosamine-agarose, followed by ion-exchange chromatography. The final eluate showed polymeric bands composed of two components of 37 and 40 kDa. The N-terminal amino acid sequences and treatment with endoglycosidase F showed that the two bands are the same XeFCN1 protein with different masses of N-linked sugar. The polymeric form of the two types of XeFCN1 specifically recognized GlcNAc and GalNAc residues. These results suggest that like human L-ficolin, XeFCN1 functions in the circulation through its lectin activity.

???displayArticle.pubmedLink??? 12679857
???displayArticle.link??? Immunogenetics


Species referenced: Xenopus laevis
Genes referenced: fcn1 fga

References [+] :
Akaiwa, Hakata antigen, a new member of the ficolin/opsonin p35 family, is a novel human lectin secreted into bronchus/alveolus and bile. 1999, Pubmed