Molecular characterisation of Interleukin-2 in two Australian marsupials (the tammar wallaby, Notamacropus eugenii, and the Tasmanian devil, Sarcophilus harrisii) facilitates the development of marsupial-specific immunological reagents
Lauren J. Young A B E , Jessica Gurr C , Katrina Morris C D , Sabine Flenady A and Katherine Belov C
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A School of Medical and Applied Sciences, Central Queensland University, Rockhampton, Qld 4700, Australia.
B School of Science and Health, Western Sydney University, Penrith, NSW 2750, Australia.
C School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW 2006, Australia.
D The Roslin Institute and Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, University of Edinburgh, Midlothian EH25 9RG, UK.
E Corresponding author. Email: ljmbyoung@gmail.com
Australian Mammalogy 41(1) 39-48 https://doi.org/10.1071/AM17027
Submitted: 23 April 2017 Accepted: 2 November 2017 Published: 25 January 2018
Abstract
Interleukin-2 (IL-2) is an important regulator of cellular immunity in mammals. For many years, our inability to identify the expression of this cytokine in marsupials hindered our capacity to progress studies in metatherian immunology. Here, we report the use of molecular techniques to characterise the IL-2 gene for the tammar wallaby (Notamacropus eugenii) and the Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii), which allowed the prediction of the structure and probable functions of the IL-2 proteins of these species. Deduced marsupial IL-2 proteins show considerable sequence identity to each other and to common brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula) IL-2 (≥65%) but shared only 35% (tammar wallaby) and 32% (Tasmanian devil) identity with human IL-2. This difference means that reagents used to study IL-2 in human and other eutherians are unlikely to cross-react with marsupials. As a key step in furthering our ability to study cellular immune responses in marsupials and, more specifically, the susceptibility of macropodoid marsupials to intracellular pathogens, a polyclonal antibody was designed for the detection and future investigation of tammar wallaby IL-2 protein expression. The molecular data and polyclonal antibody described herein will support our development of gene probes and immunological reagents that will aid studies of infection and disease in marsupials.
Additional keywords: Dasyuridae, immunology, Macropodidae, marsupial.
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