Authors : Hua-Feng Gao, Ming-Li Li, Wen-Wen Xu, Shi-Biao Yang, Ai-Guo Xin, Hua-Chun Li and Hua-Tang Zhang
Abstract: Interferon beta (IFN-β) belongs to the group of inflammatory cytokines that are expressed in eukaryotic cells as an early response to viral infection. Sheep as an important livestock in the world, however, little is known about sheep Interferon beta (sIFN-β) and its role in immune responses. In this study, researchers amplified the cDNA of sIFN-β from sheep spleen by RT-PCR using primers according to the cattle IFN-β. The ORF of sIFN-β covers 561 bp encoding 186 amino acids. Sequence prediction shows that the amino acid of sIFN-β possess 22 aa signal peptide domain and two putative N-glycosylationlation sites. qPCR analysis indicated that sIFN-β mRNA was predominantly expressed in lymphoid node. The 36 kDa recombinant sIFN-β protein was efficiently expressed and purified using metal chelate affinity chromatography (Ni-NTA) then confirmed by SDS-PAGE and Western blotting. This study provides a deeper understanding of sIFN-β molecule structure and also contributes to further studies.
Hua-Feng Gao, Ming-Li Li, Wen-Wen Xu, Shi-Biao Yang, Ai-Guo Xin, Hua-Chun Li and Hua-Tang Zhang, 2013. Molecular Identification and Expression Analysis of the Interferon Beta Gene in Sheep (Ovis aries). Journal of Animal and Veterinary Advances, 12: 412-418.