Integrin? 1/FAK/ERK signalling pathway is essential for Chinese mitten crab Eriocheir sinensis hemocyte survival

作者：Zhao, Yuehong; Zhang, Xiaoli; Zhang, Xiaona; Shen, Guoqing; Li, Weiwei; Wang, Qun^*

来源：Fish and Shellfish Immunology, 2023, 132: 108473.

DOI：10.1016/j.fsi.2022.108473

• Eriocheir sinensis
• integrin ? 1
• Apoptosis
• MAPK
• ERK
• Caspase-3

Integrins are cellular adhesion molecules that mediate cell-cell, cell-extracellular matrix, and cell-pathogen in-teractions. Integrins can stimulate various signaling pathways by binding to different ligands, thereby exerting immunological functions. While integrins have been found to primarily play a role in bacterial agglutination, phagocytosis, and inhibition of apoptosis in invertebrates, the specific signaling pathway and mechanism of action remain unclear. In vertebrates, 01 integrin and extracellular matrix interactions can associate with focal adhesion kinase (FAK) to initiate MAPK/ERK signaling and regulate cell survival; however, in invertebrates (e.g., Chinese mitten crab), the mechanisms of integrins are poorly understood. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether integrin01/FAK activation of the MAPK/ERK pathway regulates hemocyte survival and the associated mechanism. Treatment with an integrin01 inhibitor RGD (a conserved tripeptide Arg-Gly-Asp), decreased the levels of FAK and ERK expression and phosphorylation, followed by an intensification of apoptosis. Similar results were obtained following siRNA knockdown of integrin01 expression. We further found that the attenuation of ERK phosphorylation enhanced the level of Caspase-3 expression. Together, these findings suggest that integrin01 activates the FAK/ERK signaling cascade and is involved in the survival of Chinese mitten crab hemocytes.