Figure 3

Characterization of a C1qBP-related molecule ( Hm C1qBP) in the medicinal leech. (A) Nucleotide and amino acid sequences of leech HmC1qBP containing the MAM33 conserved domain are highlighted in light gray (101 to 287). Numbers of nucleotides and amino acids are indicated on left and right of the sequence, respectively. Residues considered important for correct folding and receptor-ligand interaction in human and mouse C1qBP are highlighted in black. (B) Blast-P alignments show the most important homologies (ranging from 47% to 55%) between HmC1qBP and some C1qBP molecules from other species. (C) Multiple alignments between human (NP_001203), mouse (NP_031599) and leech (Genbank accession number JN207836) C1qBP primary structures show numerous conserved residues (red). Black bars and asterisks indicate the nine structurally important residues cited above. (D) Fluorescence in situ hybridizations on freshly dissected nerve cord (T0) show localization of HmC1qBP transcripts in microglial cells (arrows). (D') The insert corresponds to sense probe as a negative control.