TCTP Is a Critical Factor in Shrimp Immune Response to Virus Infection

The translationally controlled tumor protein (TCTP) is an abundant, ubiquitous, and conserved protein which plays important roles in a number of biological processes. In the present study, the TCTP in shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei was analyzed. The TCTP of L.vannamei, a 168-amino-acid polypeptide, shares a high degree of similarity with TCTPs from other species, having two TCTP protein signatures at the 45–55 aa and 123–145 aa motif. The mRNA and protein levels from different tissues were detected with the highest in muscle and the lowest in heart among all examined tissues. In addition, temporal TCTP expression was significantly up-regulated at 16 h and 48 h following infection with white spot syndrome virus (WSSV). Lastly, silencing of TCTP with dsRNA led to a significant increase of WSSV loads. These results provide new insights into the importance of TCTP as an evolutionarily conserved molecule for shrimp innate immunity against virus infection.