The cyclic dinucleotide 2'3'-cGAMP induces a broad antibacterial and antiviral response in the sea anemone <i>Nematostella vectensis</i>.

ABSTRACT: In mammals, cyclic dinucleotides (CDNs) bind and activate STING to initiate an antiviral type I interferon response. CDNs and STING originated in bacteria and are present in most animals. By contrast, interferons are believed to have emerged in vertebrates; thus, the function of CDN signaling in invertebrates is unclear. Here, we use a CDN, 2'3' cyclic guanosine monophosphate-adenosine monophosphate (2'3'-cGAMP), to activate immune responses in a model cnidarian invertebrate, the starlet sea anemone Nematostella vectensis Using RNA sequencing, we found that 2'3'-cGAMP induces robust transcription of both antiviral and antibacterial genes in N. vectensis Many of the antiviral genes induced by 2'3'-cGAMP are homologs of vertebrate interferon-stimulated genes, implying that the

SUBMITTER: Margolis SR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8713801 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature