The chicken egg possesses physical and chemical barriers to protect the embryo from pathogens. OCX-36 (ovocalyxin-36) was suggested to be a 36 kDa eggshell-specific protein that is secreted by the regions of the oviduct responsible for eggshell formation. Its expression is strongly up-regulated during shell calcification. This protein was also detected in vitelline membrane and expressed in gut tissues. Analysis of the OCX-36 protein sequence revealed that OCX-36 is related to the BPI (bactericidal permeability-increasing proteins)/LBP [LPS (lipopolysaccharide)-binding proteins]/PLUNC (palate, lung and nasal epithelium clone) superfamily, and that there are strong similarities between the exon/intron organization of the mammalian LBP/BPI and the avian OCX-36 genes. A recent study revealed that OCX-36 originates from a tandem duplication of an ancestral BPI/LBP/PLUNC gene, after the divergence of birds and mammals. Its antimicrobial activity was recently investigated and it was shown that OCX-36 binds to LPS from Escherichia coli. High-throughput methodologies have led to the identification of approximately 1000 new egg proteins. Among these are LBP/BPI proteins that might play a role in the natural defences of the egg to protect the embryo during its development in the external milieu, and may function to keep the table egg free of pathogens. The function of these BPI-like molecules is the subject of intense research to characterize their putative LPS-binding properties and antimicrobial activity.
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August 2011
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Conference Article|
July 20 2011
Ovocalyxin-36 and other LBP/BPI/PLUNC-like proteins as molecular actors of the mechanisms of the avian egg natural defences
Joël Gautron;
Joël Gautron
1
*INRA, UR83 Recherches avicoles, F-37380 Nouzilly, France
1To whom correspondence should be addressed (email joel.gautron@tours.inra.fr).
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Sophie Réhault-Godbert;
Sophie Réhault-Godbert
*INRA, UR83 Recherches avicoles, F-37380 Nouzilly, France
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Géraldine Pascal;
Géraldine Pascal
†INRA, UMR85 Physiologie de la Reproduction et des Comportements, F-37380 Nouzilly, France
‡CNRS, UMR6175, F-37380 Nouzilly, France
§Université François Rabelais de Tours, F-37041 Tours, France
∥IFCE, F-37380 Nouzilly, France
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Yves Nys;
Yves Nys
*INRA, UR83 Recherches avicoles, F-37380 Nouzilly, France
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Maxwell T. Hincke
Maxwell T. Hincke
¶Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada, K1H 8M5
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Publisher: Portland Press Ltd
Received:
January 11 2011
Online ISSN: 1470-8752
Print ISSN: 0300-5127
© The Authors Journal compilation © 2011 Biochemical Society
2011
Biochem Soc Trans (2011) 39 (4): 971–976.
Article history
Received:
January 11 2011
Citation
Joël Gautron, Sophie Réhault-Godbert, Géraldine Pascal, Yves Nys, Maxwell T. Hincke; Ovocalyxin-36 and other LBP/BPI/PLUNC-like proteins as molecular actors of the mechanisms of the avian egg natural defences. Biochem Soc Trans 1 August 2011; 39 (4): 971–976. doi: https://doi.org/10.1042/BST0390971
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