Scavenger receptor B promotes bacteria clearance by enhancing phagocytosis and attenuates white spot syndrome virus proliferation in Scylla paramamosian.

Phagocytosis and apoptosis are key cellular innate immune responses against bacteria and virus in invertebrates. Class B scavenger receptors (SRBs), which contain a CD36 domain, are critical pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) of phagocytosis for bacteria and apoptotic cells. In the present study, we identified a member of SRB subfamily in mud crab Scylla paramamosain, named Sp-SRB. The full-length cDNA of Sp-SRB is 2593 bp with a 1629 bp open reading frame (ORF) encoding a putative protein of 542 amino acids, and predicted to contain a CD36 domain with two transmembrane regions at the C- and N-terminals. Real-time qPCR analysis revealed that Sp-SRB was widely expressed in all tissues tested, and the expression of Sp-SRB was up-regulated upon challenge with Vibrio parahaemolyticus, white spot syndrome virus (WSSV), lipopolysaccharides (LPS) and polyinosinic polycytidylic acid (PolyI:C). Moreover, in vitro experiments indicated that recombinant Sp-SRB protein (rSp-SRB) could bind to fungi, Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. RNA interference of Sp-SRB resulted in significant reduction in the expression level of phagocytosis related genes, antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) and Toll-like receptors (TLRs), which consequently led to impairment in both bacterial clearance and the phagocytotic activity of hemocytes. In addition, we found that Sp-SRB had the ability to attenuate the replication of WSSV proliferation in mud crab S. paramamosain. Collectively, this study has shown that Sp-SRB contributed to bacteria clearance by enhancing phagocytosis and up-regulating the expression of AMPs possibly in a TRLs (SpToll 1 and SpToll 2)-dependent manner. Besides, Sp-SRB inhibited the replication of WSSV in S. paramamosian probably through enhancement of hemocytes phagocytosis of apoptotic cells.