香港牡蛎cGAS/STING抗病免疫信号通路的鉴定和功能研究

cGAS/STING是最近发现的一类识别病原DNA和细菌环二核苷酸的信号通路，在脊椎动物中普遍存在且功能保守。然而，在无脊椎动物中cGAS/STING是否存在一直是未知，而且是学术争论的焦点。令人兴奋的是，我们在香港牡蛎中首次发现了cGAS和STING的同源基因，并提出了在无脊椎动物中可能存在cGAS/STING抗病信号通路的假说。但是，香港牡蛎中的cGAS/STING是否具有保守的分子结构和功能？是否具有类似的模式识别谱和信号通路？这些问题亟待解决，也构成了本项目的主要研究内容。我们拟在发现香港牡蛎cGAS和STING同源基因的基础上，分析其免疫刺激中的表达模式，研究其模式识别机制和信号通路，最终揭示其在牡蛎抗病免疫中的作用。因此，本研究不但对阐明cGAS/STING在海洋无脊椎动物天然免疫中的功能和分子机制有重要价值，而且对于探索无脊椎动物抗病信号通路的起源和演化都有关键性的意义。

cGAS/STING is a recently discovered signal pathway for the recognition of pathogenic DNA and bacterial cyclic dinucleotides, which is ubiquitous and functionally conserved in vertebrates. However, the existence of cGAS/STING in invertebrates has been incinclusive and is the focus of academic debate. Excitingly, we first discovered the homologous genes of cGAS and STING in Hong Kong oysters, and proposed the hypothesis that there may be cGAS/STING signaling pathways in invertebrates. However, does cGAS/STING in Hong Kong oysters have a conserved molecular structure and function? Is there a similar pattern recognition spectrum and signal pathway? These problems need to be solved urgently and constitute the main research content of this project. Based on the discovery of Hong Kong oyster cGAS and STING homologous genes, we plan to analyze the expression patterns of immunostimulation, study its pattern recognition mechanism and signaling pathway, and finally reveale its role in oyster immunity. Therefore, this study not only has important value in elucidating the function and molecular mechanism of cGAS/STING in innate immunity of marine invertebrates, but also plays a key role in exploring the origin and evolution of cGAS/STING signaling pathways in invertebrates.