Responses of JNK signaling pathway to the toxic dinoflagellate Prorocentrum lima in the mussel Perna viridis.

Diarrheic shellfish poisoning (DSP) toxins are widely distributed over the world, causing diarrhea, vomiting, and even tumor in human. However, bivalves, the main carrier of the DSP toxins, have some tolerant mechanisms to DSP toxins, though it remains unclear. In this study, we scrutinized the role of Jun N-terminal kinases (JNK) in tolerance of DSP toxins and the relationship between JNK, apoptosis and nuclear factor E2-related factor/antioxidant response element (Nrf2/ARE) pathways. We found that the phosphorylated level of JNK protein was significantly increased both in hemocytes (6 h) and gills (3 h) of the mussel Perna viridis after short-term exposure to DSP toxins-producing dinoflagellate Prorocentrum lima. Exposure of P. lima induced oxidative stress in mussels. Hemocytes and gills displayed different sensitivities to the cytotoxicity of DSP toxins. Exposure of P. lima activated caspase-3 and induced apoptosis in gills but did not induce caspase-3 and apoptosis in hemocytes. The short-term exposure of P. lima could activate Nrf2/ARE signaling pathway in hemocytes (6 h), while longer-term exposure could induce glutathione reductase (GR) expression in hemocytes (96 h) and glutathione-S-transferases (GST) in gills (96 h). Based on the phylogenetic tree of Nrf2, Nrf2 in P. viridis was closely related to that in other mussels, especially Mytilus coruscus, but far from that in Mus musculus. The most likely phosphorylated site of Nrf2 in the mussels P. viridis is threonine 504 for JNK, which is different from that in M. musculus. Taken all together, the tolerant mechanism of P. viridis to DSP toxins might be involved in JNK and Nrf2/ARE signaling pathways, and JNK play a key role in the mechanism. Our findings provide a new clue to further understand tolerant mechanisms of bivalves to DSP toxins.

Up-regulation of Nrf2-dependent antioxidant defenses in Perna viridis after exposed to Prorocentrum lima.

It is well documented that diarrhetic shellfish poisoning (DSP) toxins have strong genetic toxicity, cytotoxicity and oxidative damage to bivalve species. However, these toxic effects seem to decrease with the extension of exposure time and the increment of the toxin concentration, the mechanism involved remained unclear, though. In this paper, we found that expression of the genes related to cytoskeleton and Nrf2 signaling pathway displayed different changes over time in the gill of Perna viridis after exposure to DSP toxins-producing microalga Prorocentrum lima. During the short-term exposure (3 h and 6 h), KEAP1 gene expression was significantly up-regulated, coupled with up-regulation of MRP, ABCB1 and CAT transcriptions and down-regulation of GPx1 and NQO1 mRNA. After longer exposure to high density of P. lima, Nrf2 was significantly up-regulated, accompanied with up-regulation of Nrf2 pathway related genes such as NQO1, SOD, GST-ω and ABCB1, whereas KEAP1 was down-regulated. TUBA1C and TUBB1 transcripts were significantly down-regulated after short-term exposure of P. lima, but both of them were up-regulated at 96 h after exposure to high density of P. lima. Paraffin section demonstrated that P. lima had a strong damage on the gill of mussels during the short-term exposure. However, the negative effect to the gill decreased, and the gill restored after longer exposure (96 h). Taking together, we proposed that P. lima had a negative impact on cytoskeleton of mussel gill tissue, could cause oxidative damage to the gills. However, longer exposure of P. lima in high density could activate Nrf2 signaling pathway, thereby reducing the influence of toxin on mussel. Our study might provide a novel clue for the resistance mechanism of shellfish to DSP toxins.

Inhibition of five natural products from Chinese herbs on the growth of Chattonella marina.

The effects of five natural products from Chinese herbs including evodiamine, curcumin, 4-methoxysalicylaldehyde, esculin hydrate, and gramine on the growth of Chattonella marina, one of the most noxious red tide algae, were observed. Among them, gramine exhibited the highest inhibitory rate with LC50, 96h of 0.51 mg/l. After exposure to gramine, the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT), and content of malondialdehyde (MDA) increased in C. marina, suggesting that gramine could induce microalgae oxidative stress. In addition, chlorophyll a and the maximum quantum yield of photosynthesis (Fv/Fm) decreased following exposure to gramine, indicating the inhibition of photosynthesis activity in the microalgae. Combined with the fast inhibition against the algal cells and environmentally friendly character of gramine, we proposed that gramine might be a potential algaecide against marine harmful algae and that the oxidative damage and photosynthesis inhibition might be responsible for the toxicity of gramine on harmful algae.

[Effects of cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway on ventilator-induced lung injury in rats].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway on ventilator-induced lung injury (VILI) in rats. METHODS: Thirty-six healthy Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into three groups: control group, in which rats did not receive ventilation; high-tidal volume (HVT) ventilation group; nicotine treatment (HVT+nicotine) group, in which rats received intraperitoneal injection of nicotine (2 mg/kg) 10 minutes before HVT ventilation; equal amount of normal saline was given to rats in other two groups. A rat model of VILI was reproduced by volume-controlled mechanical ventilation with HVT. Hemodynamic parameters were measured throughout the study period. Arterial blood gases were measured every 1 hour. After maintaining ventilation for 2 hours, rats were sacrificed and lung tissue specimens were harvested. Lung wet-dry weight ratio (W/D) and myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity were measured. Interleukin-8 (IL-8) level in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) and intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) level in lung tissue homogenate were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), respectively. After hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining, pathological examination of lung tissue was performed, and diffuse alveolar damage (DAD) score was estimated. RESULTS: Mean pH of arterial blood in HVT group and HVT+nicotine group tended to be higher than the baseline value during the ventilation. Mean partial pressure of oxygen in arterial blood (PaO2), mean partial pressure of carbon dioxide in arterial blood (PaCO2), and mean arterial pressure (MAP) in HVT group and HVT+nicotine group were lower than baseline value during the ventilation. Mean PaO2 (mm Hg, 1 mm Hg=0.133 kPa) in HVT+nicotine group was significantly higher than that in HVT group after 2 hours of ventilation (85+/-4 vs. 76+/-3, P<0.05). Mean W/D ratio and mean MPO activity in HVT group were significantly higher than those in control group [W/D ratio: 5.66+/-0.33 vs. 4.53+/-0.21, P<0.01; MPO (U/g): 1.73+/-0.50 vs. 0.89+/-0.17, P<0.05]. Mean W/D ratio (5.02+/-0.37) and mean MPO activity (1.11+/-0.33) in HVT+nicotine group were significantly lower than those in HVT group (both P<0.05). Compared with control group, DAD scores in HVT group and HVT+nicotine group (10.40+/-1.85, 7.90+/-1.67 vs. 1.60+/-1.20), IL-8 concentration (ng/L: 1 625.3+/-271.7, 965.5+/-310.5 vs. 428.5+/-120.6) and ICAM-1 concentration (microg/L: 589.4+/-87.5, 452.5+/-89.3 vs. 247.5+/-73.7) were significantly higher (all P<0.01). But DAD score, IL-8 concentration, ICAM-1 concentration in HVT+nicotine group were significantly lower than those in HVT group (P<0.05 or P<0.01). CONCLUSION: Activation of cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway can protect the lung against VILI by suppressing IL-8 and ICAM-1 expression, inhibiting neutrophil aggregation and infiltration.