Deacetylation of chitin is closely related to insect development and metamorphosis. Chitin deacetylase (CDA) is a key enzyme in the process. However, to date, the CDAs of Bombyx mori (BmCDAs), which is a model Lepidopteran insect, were not well studied. In order to better understand the role of BmCDAs in the metamorphosis and development of silkworm, the BmCDA2 which is highly expressed in epidermis was selected to study by bioinformatics methods, protein expression purification and immunofluorescence localization. The results showed that the two mRNA splicing forms of BmCDA2, namely BmCDA2a and BmCDA2b, were highly expressed in the larval and pupal epidermis, respectively. Both genes had chitin deacetylase catalytic domain, chitin binding domain and low density lipoprotein receptor domain. Western blot showed that the BmCDA2 protein was mainly expressed in the epidermis. Moreover, fluorescence immunolocalization showed that BmCDA2 protein gradually increased and accumulated with the formation of larval new epidermis, suggesting that BmCDA2 may be involved in the formation or assembly of larval new epidermis. The results increased our understandings to the biological functions of BmCDAs, and may facilitate the CDA study of other insects.
Animals ; Bombyx/metabolism* ; Metamorphosis, Biological/genetics* ; Larva/metabolism* ; Gene Expression ; Insect Proteins/metabolism* ; Chitin

This study aims to investigate the effect of Bombyx Batryticatus extract(BBE) on behaviors of rats with global cerebral ischemia reperfusion(I/R) and the underlying mechanism. The automatic coagulometer was used to detect the four indices of human plasma coagulation after BBE intervention for quality control of the extract. Sixty 4-week-old male SD rats were randomized into sham operation group(equivalent volume of normal saline, ip), model group(equivalent volume of normal saline, ip), positive drug group(900 IU·kg~(-1) heparin, ip), and low-, medium-, and high-dose BBE groups(0.45, 0.9, and 1.8 mg·g~(-1)·d~(-1) BBE, ip). Except the sham operation group, rats were subjected to bilateral common carotid artery occlusion followed by reperfusion(BCCAO/R) to induce I/R. The administration lasted 7 days for all the groups. The behaviors of rats were examined by beam balance test(BBT). Morphological changes of brain tissue were observed based on hematoxylin-eosin(HE) staining. Immunofluorescence method was used to detect common leukocyte antigen(CD45), leukocyte differentiation antigen(CD11b), and arginase-1(Arg-1) in cerebral cortex(CC). The protein expression of interleukin-1β(IL-1β), interleukin-4(IL-4), interleukin-6(IL-6), and interleukin-10(IL-10) was detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA). The non-targeted metabonomics was employed to detect the levels of metabolites in plasma and CC of rats after BBE intervention. The results of quality control showed that the BBE prolonged the activated partial thromboplastin time(APTT), prothrombin time(PT), and thrombin time(TT) of human plasma, which was similar to the anticoagulation effect of BBE obtained previously. The results of behavioral test showed that the BBT score of the model group increased compared with that of the sham operation group. Compared with the model group, BBE reduced the BBT score. As for the histomorphological examination, compared with the sham operation group, the model group showed morphological changes of a lot of nerve cells in CC. The nerve cells with abnormal morphology in CC decreased after the intervention of BBE compared with those in the model group. Compared with the sham operation group, the model group had high average fluorescence intensity of CD45 and CD11b in the CC. The average fluorescence intensity of CD11b decreased and the average fluorescence intensity of Arg-1 increased in CC in the low-dose BBE group compared with those in the model group. The average fluorescence intensity of CD45 and CD11b decreased and the average fluorescence intensity of Arg-1 increased in medium-and high-dose BBE groups compared with those in the model group. The expression of IL-1β and IL-6 was higher and the expression of IL-4 and IL-10 was lower in the model group than in the sham operation group. The expression of IL-1β and IL-6 was lower and the expression of IL-4 and IL-10 was higher in the low-dose, medium-dose, and high-dose BBE groups than in the model group. The results of non-targeted metabonomics showed that 809 metabolites of BBE were identified, and 57 new metabolites in rat plasma and 45 new metabolites in rat CC were found. BBE with anticoagulant effect can improve the behaviors of I/R rats, and the mechanism is that it promotes the polarization of microglia to M2 type, enhances its anti-inflammatory and phagocytic functions, and thus alleviates the damage of nerve cells in CC.
Humans ; Rats ; Male ; Animals ; Interleukin-10 ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Interleukin-4/metabolism* ; Bombyx ; Interleukin-6/metabolism* ; Microglia/metabolism* ; Saline Solution/metabolism* ; Reperfusion Injury/metabolism* ; Brain Ischemia/metabolism* ; Cerebral Infarction ; Reperfusion ; Neurons

The aim of this study was to prepare tandem multimeric proteins of BmSPI38, a silkworm protease inhibitor, with better structural homogeneity, higher activity and stronger antifungal ability by protein engineering. The tandem multimeric proteins of BmSPI38 were prepared by prokaryotic expression technology. The effects of tandem multimerization on the structural homogeneity, inhibitory activity and antifungal ability of BmSPI38 were explored by in-gel activity staining of protease inhibitor, protease inhibition assays and fungal growth inhibition experiments. Activity staining showed that the tandem expression based on the peptide flexible linker greatly improved the structural homogeneity of BmSPI38 protein. Protease inhibition experiments showed that the tandem trimerization and tetramerization based on the linker improved the inhibitory ability of BmSPI38 to microbial proteases. Conidial germination assays showed that His₆-SPI38L-tetramer had stronger inhibition on conidial germination of Beauveria bassiana than that of His₆-SPI38-monomer. Fungal growth inhibition assay showed that the inhibitory ability of BmSPI38 against Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Candida albicans could be enhanced by tandem multimerization. The present study successfully achieved the heterologous active expression of the silkworm protease inhibitor BmSPI38 in Escherichia coli, and confirmed that the structural homogeneity and antifungal ability of BmSPI38 could be enhanced by tandem multimerization. This study provides important theoretical basis and new strategies for cultivating antifungal transgenic silkworm. Moreover, it may promote the exogenous production of BmSPI38 and its application in the medical field.
Animals ; Antifungal Agents/pharmacology* ; Escherichia coli/metabolism* ; Proteins/metabolism* ; Protease Inhibitors/chemistry* ; Bombyx/chemistry* ; Saccharomyces cerevisiae/metabolism* ; Peptide Hydrolases

Molting is an important physiological phenomenon of many metamorphosis insects, during which the old and new epidermis are separated by enzymes present in the molting fluid. Various proteomic studies have discovered the presence of Bombyx mori carboxypeptidase A (Bm-CPA) in the molting fluid of silkworm, but its function remains unclear. In order to better understand the role of Bm-CPA in the molting process of silkworm, Bm-CPA was analyzed by bioinformatics analysis, real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR, antibody preparation, immunofluorescence staining, and expression in Pichia pastoris. The results showed that Bm-CPA had a conserved M14 zinc carboxypeptidase domain and glycosylation site. Its expression was regulated by ecdysone 20E, and large expression was observed in the epidermis of the upper cluster stage. Immunofluorescence staining showed that Bm-CPA was enriched in the epidermis during the molting stage, and the inhibitor of Bm-CPA led to the larval death due to the inability to molt. We also successfully obtained a large number of recombinant Bm-CPA proteins by Pichia pastoris expression in vitro. These results may facilitate further understanding the molting development process of silkworm.
Animals ; Molting/genetics* ; Bombyx/genetics* ; Carboxypeptidases A/metabolism* ; Proteomics ; Larva/metabolism* ; Fluorescent Antibody Technique ; Insect Proteins/metabolism*

The aldo-keto reductase super family (AKRs) has a wide range of substrate specificity. However, the systematic identification of insect AKR gene family members has not been reported. In this study, bioinformatics methods were used to predict the phylogenetic evolution, physical and chemical properties, chromosome location, conserved motifs, and gene structure of AKR family members in Bombyx mori (BmAKR). Transcriptome data or quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) were used to analyze the expression level of BmAKR genes during different organizational periods and silkworm eggs in different developmental states. Moreover, Western blotting was used to detect the expression level of the BmAKR in silkworm eggs. The results showed that 11 BmAKR genes were identified. These genes were distributed on 4 chromosomes of the silkworm genome, all of which had the (α/β) 8-barrel motif, and their physical and chemical characteristics were relatively similar. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the BmAKR genes could be divided into 2 subgroups (AKR1 and AKR2). Transcriptome data analysis showed that the expression of BmAKR genes were quite different in different tissues and periods. Moreover, the expression analysis of BmAKR genes in silkworm eggs showed that some genes were expressed significantly higher in nondiapause eggs than in diapause eggs; but another gene, BmAKR1-1, was expressed significantly higher in diapause eggs than in nondiapause eggs. The detection of protein level found that the difference trend of BmAKR1-1 in diapause eggs and non-diapause eggs was consistent with the results of qRT-PCR. In conclusion, BmAKR1-1 was screened out as candidates through the identification and analysis of the BmAKR genes in silkworm, which may regulate silkworm egg development is worthy of further investigation.
Animals ; Bombyx/metabolism* ; Phylogeny ; Diapause ; Genes, Insect ; Gene Expression Profiling ; Insect Proteins/metabolism*

Transmembrane emp24 domain (TMED) gene is closely related to immune response, signal transduction, growth and disease development in mammals. However, only the Drosophila TMED gene has been reported on insects. We identified the TMED family genes of silkworm, Tribolium castaneum, tobacco moth and Italian bee from their genomes, and found that the TMED family gene composition patterns of one α-class, one β-class, one δ-class and several γ-classes arose in the common ancestor of pre-divergent Hymenoptera insects, while the composition of Drosophila TMED family members has evolved in a unique pattern. Insect TMED family γ-class genes have evolved rapidly, diverging into three separate subclasses, TMED6-like, TMED5-like and TMED3-like. The TMED5-like gene was lost in Hymenoptera, duplicated in the ancestors of Lepidoptera and duplicated in Drosophila. Insect TMED protein not only has typical structural characteristics of TMED, but also has obvious signal peptide. There are seven TMED genes in silkworm, distributed in six chromosomes. One of seven is single exon and others are multi-exons. The complete open reading frame (ORF) sequences of seven TMED genes of silkworm were cloned from larval tissues and registered in GenBank database. BmTMED1, BmTMED2 and BmTMED6 were expressed in all stages and tissues of the silkworm, and all genes were expressed in the 4th and 5th instar and silk gland of the silkworm. The present study revealed the composition pattern of TMED family members, their γ class differentiation and their evolutionary history, providing a basis for further studies on TMED genes in silkworm and other insects.
Animals ; Bombyx/metabolism* ; Genes, Insect/genetics* ; Moths/metabolism* ; Insecta/metabolism* ; Drosophila ; Insect Proteins/metabolism* ; Phylogeny ; Mammals/genetics*

The CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing system has been widely used in basic research, gene therapy and genetic engineering due to its high efficiency, fast speed and convenience. Meanwhile, the discovery of novel CRISPR/Cas systems in the microbial community also accelerated the emergence of novel gene editing tools. CRISPR/Cpf1 is the second type (V type) CRISPR system that can edit mammalian genome. Compared with the CRISPR/Cas9, CRISPR/Cpf1 can use 5'T-PAM rich region to increase the genome coverage, and has many advantages, such as sticky end of cleavage site and less homologous recombination repair. Here we constructed three CRISPR/Cpf1 (AsCpf1, FnCpf1 and LbCpf1) expression vectors in silkworm cells. We selected a highly conserved BmHSP60 gene and an ATPase family BmATAD3A gene to design the target gRNA, and constructed gHSP60-266 and gATAD3A-346 knockout vectors. The efficiency for editing the target genes BmATAD3A and BmHSP60 by AsCpf1, FnCpf1 and LbCpf1 were analyzed by T7E1 analysis and T-clone sequencing. Moreover, the effects of target gene knockout by different gene editing systems on the protein translation of BmHSP60 and BmATAD3A were analyzed by Western blotting. We demonstrate the CRISPR/Cpf1 gene editing system developed in this study could effectively edit the silkworm genome, thus providing a novel method for silkworm gene function research, genetic engineering and genetic breeding.
Animals ; Bombyx/metabolism* ; CRISPR-Cas Systems/genetics* ; Endonucleases/genetics* ; Gene Editing ; RNA, Guide/genetics*

Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) produces Cry toxins that are widely used as insecticides in agriculture and forestry. Receptors are important to elucidate the mode of interaction with Cry toxins and toxicity in lepidopteran insects. Here, we purified the Cry toxin from Bt and identified this toxin by flight mass spectrometry as Cry1Ac, and then recombinantly expressed aminopeptidase N (BmAPN6) and repeat domains of cadherin-like protein (CaLP) of B. mori. Using co-immunoprecipitation (co-IP), Far-Western blotting, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs), we identified the interaction between Cry1Ac and BmAPN6. Furthermore, analysis of the cytotoxic activity of Cry1Ac toxin in Sf9 cells showed that BmAPN6 directly interacted with Cry1Ac toxin to induce morphological aberrations and cell lysis. We also used co-IP, Far-Western blotting and ELISAs to analyze the interactions of Cry1Ac with three binding sites corresponding to cadherin repeat (CR) 7 CR11, and CR12 of CaLP. Notably, the three repeat domains were essential Cry1Ac binding components in CaLP. These results indicated that BmAPN6 and CaLP served as a functional receptor involved in Bt Cry1Ac toxin pathogenicity. These findings represent an important advancement in our understanding of the mechanisms of Cry1Ac toxicity and provide promising candidate targets for gene editing to enhance resistance to pathogens and increase the economic value of B. mori.
Animals ; Bacillus thuringiensis ; Bacterial Proteins ; metabolism ; Bombyx ; enzymology ; CD13 Antigens ; metabolism ; Cadherins ; metabolism ; Endotoxins ; metabolism ; Hemolysin Proteins ; metabolism ; Larva

Mulberry (Morus alba) leaves are known to have therapeutic effects on lipid metabolism including lipogenesis, lipolysis and hyperlipidemia. However, novel compounds with strong lipolytic ability among 27 extracts of the mulberry leaves fermented with Cordyceps militaris (EMfCs) have not yet been identified. Therefore, the cAMP concentration and cell viability were measured in the primary adipocytes of SD (Sprague Dawley) rats and 3T3-L1 cells after treatment of 27 EMfCs. Briefly, mulberry leaves powders amended with three different concentrations (0, 25 and 50%) of silkworm pupae (SWP) powder were fermented with 10% C. militaris (v/w) during three different periods (3, 4 and 6 weeks). A total of 27 extracts were obtained from the fermented mulberry leaves powders using three different solvents (dH2O, 50% EtOH and 95% EtOH). Among the 27 EMfCs treated groups, a significant increase in the concentration of cAMP was detected in primary adipocytes treated with 10 extracts when compared with the Vehicle treated group. However, their cAMP concentration did not agree completely with the non-toxicity, although most extracts showed non-toxicity. Furthermore, the concentration of cAMP and level of free glycerol gradually increased in a dose dependent manner (100, 200 and 400 µg/mL) of 4M3-95 contained cordycepin without any significant toxicity. Overall, the results of this study provide strong evidence that 4M3-95 extract derived from EMfCs can stimulate the lipolysis of primary adipocytes at an appropriate concentration and therefore have the potential for use as lipolytic agents to treat obesity.
3T3-L1 Cells ; Adipocytes* ; Animals ; Bombyx ; Cell Survival ; Cordyceps* ; Glycerol ; Hyperlipidemias ; Lipid Metabolism ; Lipogenesis ; Lipolysis ; Morus* ; Obesity ; Powders ; Pupa ; Rats* ; Solvents ; Therapeutic Uses

Bm04862 is a novel hemocyte-specific gene, which has been identified and cloned through the microarray data in silkworm, Bombyx mori. Initially, we successfully obtained the full-length cDNA sequence of Bm04862 via the rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE). The sequence consists of an open reading frame (ORF) with 819 bp, which could encode 273 amino acid residues. The bioinformatics analysis predicted that Bm04862 was a transmembrane protein. Furthermore, qRT-PCR analysis revealed that the expression of Bm04862 was specifically detected in hemocyte and reached a peak at L4M and PP2 stage. Bm04862 was overexpressed in Sf9 insect cells, and the cellular localization indicated that Bm04862 was specifically located in cytoplasm and nuclei membrane. Interestingly, the expression of Bm04862 increas'd dramatically after challenged with Escherichia coli for 24 hours, which predicted its potential role in the innate immune system. Overall, this study could provide the fundamental knowledge for further research.
Animals ; Bombyx ; genetics ; Cloning, Molecular ; Computational Biology ; DNA, Complementary ; Hemocytes ; metabolism ; Insect Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Membrane Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Open Reading Frames