Molecular roles of salmon louse and piscine aquaglyceroporins (Channel19)

As part of an ongoing project funded by the Research Council of Norway (254872/E40: ImmunoPorin) focusing on the immunosuppression of aquaglyceroporins (Glps) in the salmon louse (Lepeophtheirus salmonis), we have discovered that two of the salmon louse Glps that transport, water, glycerol and urea, can be inhibited by antibodies raised against the N- or C-terminal domains of the louse channels in a dose-dependent manner. As a step toward potential vaccine development, we aim to determine whether such immunosppression can cause an autoimmune response in the Glps of the Atlantic salmon host. We have therefore identified and cloned the full repertoire of salmon Glps and in this project will test whether antibodies raised against the louse peptides suppress the molecular function of the salmon Glps using a frog oocyte expression system. In addition we aim to determine the signalling pathways that regulate salmon louse membrane trafficking in order to enhance their exposure to the inhibitory louse antibodies. Finally we will investigate a novel vertebrate glycerol transporter in evolutionary distant teleost fishes to determine whether a potential vaccine targeting salmon louse Glps can cause its immunosupression in the salmonid host.