Caspase 2 is widely studied for its function in the regulation of apoptosis in mammals. Despite the fundamental role of apoptosis during the anti-viral immune response, the relationship between Caspase 2 and virus infection has not been extensively explored in invertebrates. Also, whether or not miRNAs involve this process remains unclear. To address this issue, the miRNA-mediated regulation of Caspase 2 in mud crab (Scylla paramamosain) (Sp-Caspase 2) was characterized in this study. Sp-Caspase 2 contains an open reading frame (ORF) of 969 bp encoding 322 deduced amino acids and possesses a conserved CASc domain. The results suggested that Sp-Caspase 2 could suppress white spot syndrome virus infection via apoptosis induction. The further data showed that Sp-Caspase 2 was directly targeted by miR-2 in mud crab. Silencing or overexpression of miR-2 could affect apoptosis and WSSV replication through the regulation of Sp-Caspase 2 expression. Taken together, these results demonstrated the crucial role of the miR-2-Caspase 2 pathway in the innate immunity of mud crabs and revealed a novel mechanism in the anti-viral immune response in marine invertebrates.

Caspase 2 因其在哺乳动物细胞凋亡调节中的作用而被广泛研究。尽管细胞凋亡在抗病毒免疫反应中发挥着重要作用，但 Caspase 2 与病毒感染之间的关系尚未在无脊椎动物中得到广泛研究。此外，miRNA 是否涉及这一过程仍不清楚。为了解决这个问题，本研究表征了 miRNA 介导的泥蟹 ( Scylla paramamosain ) ( Sp -Caspase 2) 中 Caspase 2 的调节。Sp -Caspase 2 包含一个 969 bp 的开放阅读框 (ORF)，编码 322 个推导的氨基酸，并拥有一个保守的 CASc 结构域。结果表明，Sp -Caspase 2 可以通过以下途径抑制白斑综合征病毒感染。凋亡诱导。进一步的数据表明，Sp -Caspase 2 在泥蟹中被 miR-2 直接靶向。miR-2的沉默或过表达可通过调节Sp -Caspase 2的表达影响细胞凋亡和WSSV复制。总之，这些结果证明了 miR-2-Caspase 2 途径在泥蟹先天免疫中的关键作用，并揭示了海洋无脊椎动物抗病毒免疫反应的新机制。