V. Zonno

D-glucose transport in decapod crustacean hepatopancreas.

Physiological mechanisms of gastrointestinal absorption of organic solutes among crustaceans remain severely underinvestigated, in spite of the considerable relevance of characterizing the routes of nutrient absorption for both nutritional purposes and formulation of balanced diets in aquaculture. Several lines of evidence attribute a primary absorptive role to the digestive gland (hepatopancreas) and a secondary role to the midgut (intestine). Among absorbed organic solutes, the importance of D-glucose in crustacean metabolism is paramount. Its plasma levels are finely tuned by hormones (crustacean hyperglycemic hormone, insulin-like peptides and insulin-like growth factors) and the function of certain organs (i.e. brain and muscle) largely depends on a balanced D-glucose supply. In the last few decades, D-glucose absorptive processes of the gastrointestinal tract of crustaceans have been described and transport mechanisms investigated, but not fully disclosed. We briefly review our present knowledge of D-glucose transport processes in the crustacean hepatopancreas. A discussion of previous results from experiments with hepatopancreatic epithelial brush-border membrane vesicles is presented. In addition, recent advances in our understandings of hepatopancreatic D-glucose transport are shown, as obtained (1) after isolation of purified R-, F-, B- and E-cell suspensions from the whole organ by centrifugal elutriation, and (2) by protein expression in hepatopancreatic mRNA-injected Xenopus laevis oocytes. In a perspective, the applicability of these novel methods to the study of hepatopancreatic absorptive function will certainly improve our knowledge of this structurally complex organ.

Adenosine Triphosphate Concentration and β-d-Glucuronidase Activity as Indicators of Sea Bass Semen Quality

Abstract The most common parameters used to evaluate sperm quality are motility rate and duration and fertilization ability. In this study, chemical and biochemical parameters of sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) sperm were investigated to find an alternative method for evaluating sperm fertilization ability before and after cryopreservation. The biochemical and chemical analyses were performed with fresh and frozen-thawed sperm and seminal plasma. To cryopreserve sperm, 250-μl straws were used. Fertilization ability was evaluated by inseminating eggs (obtained from hormonally stimulated females) with fresh and cryopreserved sperm. The results revealed a linear relationship (P < 0.05) between semen fertilization capacity and some seminal plasma (β-d-glucuronidase activity, potassium concentration) and sperm (ATP concentration, aspartate aminotransferase activity) parameters. Variations in semen fertilization rate could be best described by two multiple regression models: one including the sperm parameters and another including the seminal plasma parameters. For practical application, the use of simple regression models is of value. Fertilization rate in both fresh and cryopreserved sperm was reliably predicted by determining the ATP concentration or the β-d-glucuronidase activity or both.

Effect of Cryopreservation on Sea Bass Sperm Proteins

Abstract In the present study we used two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (2-DE) and matrix-associated laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry to verify whether the protein expression of sea bass sperm was affected by the cryopreservation procedure. The protein profiles differed between fresh and frozen-thawed semen as revealed by visual inspection and by image analysis software. We identified 163 spots in fresh sperm; among these, 13 were significantly decreased and 8 were absent in two-dimensional gel obtained with cryopreserved sperm. Five of these spots were analyzed with MALDI-TOF, but only three showed a significant match in the databases used in bio-informatics analysis (PeptIdent, Mascot, and MS-Fit). In particular, spot 5 showed homology with a novel protein of zebrafish (similar to SKB1 of human and mouse), spot 13 showed homology with amphibian G1/S-specific cyclin E2, and spot 20 showed homology with the hypothetical protein DKFZp566A1524 of Brachidanio rerio. The present work shows that the use of the cryopreservation procedure causes the degradation of sperm proteins and among these, two could be at least partially responsible for the observed decrease in sperm motility duration and the lower hatching rate of eggs fertilized with cryopreserved sperm.

Changes in cell type composition and enzymatic activities in the hepatopancreas of Marsupenaeus japonicus during the moulting cycle.

The goal of the present study was to evaluate the changes in the cell type composition and ATPase activities (total ATPase, ouabain-sensitive Na+/K+-ATPase, furosemide-sensitive Na+-ATPase) that occur during the different stages of the moulting cycle in the hepatopancreas of the Marsupenaeus japonicus. The results clearly suggest that the number of resorptive and fibrillar cell types changes significantly during the different stages. An inverse correlation between resorptive and fibrillar cells is observed during moulting (both in normally fed and fasted animals). Fasting, but not the moulting cycle, affects the number of blister-like cells. In the resorptive cells the enzymatic activities (total ATPases and ouabain-sensitive Na+/K+-ATPase) also change during the moulting in a cyclical manner. All these results are in agreement with and confirm the different functions carried out by the two cell types within the hepatopancreas.

Assessment of DNA vaccine potential for gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata) by intramuscular injection of a reporter gene.

Naked circular plasmid DNA containing the cytomegalovirus (CMV)-promoter-driven lacZ reporter gene (pCMV-LacZ) was injected in the epaxial muscle of gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata). A mosaic pattern of expression of beta-galactosidase (beta-gal) in the myofibres at the site of injection was visualised by in situ histochemical staining using 5-bromo-4-chloro-3-indolyl-beta-D-galactopyranoside. As measured by o-nitrophenyl-beta-D-galactopyranoside assay, beta-gal enzymatic activity was found to steadily increase for at least 50 days post injection (p.i.) in pCMV-LacZ-injected muscle. In parallel, foreign DNA was detected by polymerase chain reaction in injected muscles (but not in other tissues) up to 60 days p.i., persisting most probably in an extrachromosomal, non-replicative, circular form. Neither beta-gal activity nor pCMV-LacZ-related amplification products were found 90 days p.i. Antibodies against beta-gal were demonstrated in pCMV-LacZ-injected fish sampled 45 days p.i. The results suggest that intramuscular delivery of foreign genes represents a realistic approach for DNA vaccine technology for the prevention of infectious diseases in gilthead sea bream.

Effect of cadmium and zinc on the Na+/H+ exchanger present on the brush border membrane vesicles isolated from eel kidney tubular cells

The present paper reports evidence on the effect of cadmium and zinc on the Na+/H+ exchanger activity located on the apical membranes of the eel kidney tubular cells. The activity of the exchanger, as well as the membrane vesicle permeability to protons, were monitored by using the pH sensitive dye acridine orange. The membrane vesicle permeability to sodium ions was tested either by using the potential sensitive dye DiS–C2(5) or by using 22Na coupled with the rapid filtration technique. Results indicate that both cadmium and zinc inhibited, in a dose-dependent manner, the activity of the exchanger. However, at the higher tested concentration (0.1 mM) the inhibitory effect exerted by Zinc (90% of inhibition with respect to the control value obtained in the absence of zinc) was significantly (P<0.01) higher than that obtained in the presence of cadmium (42% of inhibition with respect to the control value obtained in the absence of cadmium). Since the inhibitory effect is observed when the zinc and cadmium ions were added in the extravesicular media and since the brush border membrane vesicles are right-side-out oriented, we suggest that both cadmium and zinc act from the external side of the membrane vesicles. In addition results shown in the present paper suggest that zinc inhibited the antiporter activity by interacting with the transporter protein, without any effect on the membrane vesicles permeability both to proton and sodium ions, while the inhibitory effect exerted by cadmium seems to ensue (at least partially) from a change in the membrane vesicles permeability to protons.

Comparison among Different Gilthead Sea Bream (Sparus aurata) Farming Systems: Activity of Intestinal and Hepatic Enzymes and 13C-NMR Analysis of Lipids

In order to evaluate differences in general health and nutritional values of gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata), the effects of semi-intensive, land-based tanks and sea-cages intensive rearing systems were investigated, and results compared with captured wild fish. The physiological state was determined by measuring the activity of three different intestinal digestive enzymes: alkaline phosphatase (ALP), leucine aminopeptidase (LAP) and maltase; and the activity of the hepatic ALP. Also, the hepatic content in protein, cholesterol, and lipid were assessed. 13C-NMR analysis for qualitative and quantitative characterization of the lipid fraction extracted from fish muscles for semi-intensive and land based tanks intensive systems was performed. The lipid fraction composition showed small but significant differences in the monounsaturated/saturated fatty acid ratio, with the semi-intensive characterized by higher monounsaturated and lower saturated fatty acid content with respect to land based tanks intensive rearing system.

Differential expression of Na+/D-glucose cotransport in isolated cells of Marsupenaeus japonicus hepatopancreas.

Abstractd-Glucose absorptive processes at the gastrointestinal tract of decapod crustaceans are largely under-investigated. We have studied Na+-dependent d-glucose transport (Na+/d-glucose cotransport) in the hepatopancreas of the Kuruma prawn, Marsupenaeus japonicus, using both brush-border membrane vesicles and purified R and B hepatopancreatic cell suspensions. As assessed by brush-border membrane vesicle studies, Na+/d-glucose cotransport was inhibited by phloridzin and responsive to the (inside negative) membrane potential. Furthermore, it was strongly activated by protons (although only in the presence of an inside-negative membrane potential), which correlates with the fact that the lumen of crustacean hepatopancreatic tubules is acidic. When assayed in purified R and B cell suspensions, Na+/d-glucose cotransport activity was restricted to B cells only. Mab 13, a monoclonal antibody recognizing an 80- to 85-KDa protein at the brush-border membrane location, inhibited Na+/D-glucose cotransport in brush-border membrane vesicles as well as in enriched B cell suspensions. Primers designed after comparison of highly homologous regions of various mammalian sodium-glucose transporter) nucleotide sequences failed to produce RT-PCR amplification products from Kuruma prawn hepatopancreatic RNA. The molecular nature of this Na+/d-glucose cotransport system is still to be established.

Electroneutral Na + /H + exchange in brush-border membrane vesicles from Penaeus japonicus hepatopancreas

An electroneutral Na+/H+exchange mechanism (dimethylamiloride inhibitable, Li+ sensitive, and Ca2+ insensitive) was identified in brush-border membrane vesicles (BBMV) from Kuruma prawn hepatopancreas by monitoring Na+-dependent H+ fluxes with the pH-sensitive dye acridine orange and measuring22Na+uptake. Kinetic parameters measured under short-circuited conditions were the Na+ concentration that yielded one-half of the maximal dissipation rate ( F max) of the preset transmembrane ΔpH ( K Na) = 15 ± 2 mM and F max = 3,626 ± 197 Δ F ⋅ min-1 ⋅ mg protein-1, with a Hill coefficient for Na+ of ∼1. In addition, the inhibitory constant for dimethylamiloride was found to be ∼1 μM. The electroneutral nature of the antiporter was assessed in that an inside-negative transmembrane electrical potential neither affected kinetic parameters nor stimulated pH-dependent (intracellular pH > extracellular pH)22Na+uptake. In contrast, electrogenic pH-dependent22Na+uptake was observed in lobster hepatopancreatic BBMV. Substitution of chloride with gluconate resulted in increasing K Na and decreasing Δ F max, which suggests a possible role of chloride in the operational mechanism of the antiporter. These results indicate that a Na+/H+exchanger, resembling the electroneutral Na+/H+antiporter model, is present in hepatopancreatic BBMV from the Kuruma prawn Penaeus japonicus.