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Progress in the Study of Novel Immunoglobulin in Teleost Fish
Lü Cui, An Liguo, Yang Guiwen*
Shandong Provincial Key laboratory of Animal Resistance Biology, College of Life Sciences, Shandong Normal University,Jinan 250014, China
Abstract: Immunoglobulin has been discovered for the first time in fish， and it is the major player in a humoral immune system in fish. It was generally believed that teleost fish possess only few immunoglobulin isotypes such as IgM and IgD. Since 2005， the new Ig isotypes IgZ， IgT and a chimera of IgM-IgZ have been discovered from zebrafish， rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and common carp (Cyprinus carpio L.)， respectively. These findings broadened our knowledge in the immunoglobulin family of early vertebrates. As a novel immunoglobulin isotype， it exhibits specific gene organization and class diversity. So far， its function has not been known enough， but some studies have indicated that it acts as a mucosal intestinal immunoglobulin and may be an IgA equivalent. Here， the specific structural features， gene organization， distribution patterns and functional differences of the novel immunoglobulin are reviewed.
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