Studies Oil Interferon-inducible Mx Proteins in Fish

Mx proteins are members of a family of interferon inducible genes expressed in organisms or cells which are treated with all sorts of inducers or virus infection.These proteins together with other interferon inducible proteins form the antiviral state in host cells and the first line of the body’s defense against virus infection.Apart from the inhibtion of a specific virus,Mx proteins may be related with other basic cellular functions such as development/differentiation,protein sorting and growth.Mx proteins in several fishes are found and a comparsion of their sequences with that of avian and mammalian species reveals striking conservation of domains.They all maintain a tripartite ATP/GTP binding motif and a signature of the dynamin family in the amino terminal of the protein.In addition,the C terminal region of the Mx proteins contains the localization signals and the leucine zipper motif which account for the trimerization of Mx in the cell.So far,the antiviral function of the fish Mx proteins has not b