• Journal of Life Science
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• v.30 no.11
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• pp.931-938
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• 2020

Translationally controlled tumor protein (TCTP) is one of the most abundant proteins in various eukaryotic organisms. TCTPs play important roles in cell physiological processes in cancer, cell proliferation, gene regulation, and heat shock response. TCTP is also considered an important factor in the resistance to oxidative stress induced by dithiothreitol or hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂). Arctic calanoid copepods have a variety of antioxidant defense systems to regulate the levels of potentially harmful reactive oxygen species generated by ultraviolet radiation in the Arctic marine ecosystem. However, information on the antioxidant activity of TCTP in the Arctic Calanus glacialis is still scarce. To understand the putative antioxidant function of the Arctic copepod C. glacialis TCTP (Cg-TCTP), its gene was cloned and sequenced. The Cg-TCTP comprised 522 bp and encoded a 174-amino acid putative protein with a calculated molecular weight of ~23 kDa. The recombinant Cg-TCTP (Cg-r TCTP) gene was overexpressed in Escherichia coli (BL21), and Cg-rTCTP-transformed cells were grown in the presence or absence of H₂O₂. Cg-rTCTP-transformed E. coli showed increased tolerance to high H₂O₂ concentrations. Therefore, TCTP may be an important antioxidant protein related to tolerance of the Arctic copepod C. glacialis to oxidative stress in the harsh environment of the Arctic Ocean.