The ultrastructural localization of lysosomal acid hydrolases in developing oocytes of the common marine mussel Mytilus edulis

Environmental prognostics: an integrated model supporting lysosomal stress responses as predictive biomarkers of animal health status

The potential prognostic use of lysosomal reactions to environmental pollutants is explored in relation to predicting animal health in marine mussels, based on diagnostic biomarker data. Cellular lysosomes are already known to accumulate many metals and organic xenobiotics and the lysosomal accumulation of the carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon 3-methylcholanthrene (3-MC) is demonstrated here in the hepatopancreatic digestive cells and ovarian oocytes of the blue mussel. Lysosomal membrane integrity or stability appears to be a generic indicator of cellular well-being in eukaryotes; and in bivalve molluscs it is correlated with total oxygen and nitrogen radical scavenging capacity (TOSC), protein synthesis, scope for growth and larval viability; and inversely correlated with DNA damage (micronuclei), as well as lysosomal swelling (volume density), lipidosis and lipofuscinosis, which are all characteristic of failed or incomplete autophagy. Integration of multiple biomarker data is achieved using multivariate statistics and then mapped onto "health status space" by using lysosomal membrane stability as a measure of cellular well-being. This is viewed as a crucial step towards the derivation of explanatory frameworks for prediction of pollutant impact on animal health; and has facilitated the development of a conceptual mechanistic model linking lysosomal damage and autophagic dysfunction with injury to cells, tissues and the whole animal. This model has also complemented the creation and use of a cell-based bioenergetic computational model of molluscan hepatopancreatic cells that simulates lysosomal and cellular reactions to pollutants. More speculatively, the use of coupled empirical measurements of biomarker reactions and modelling is proposed as a practical approach to the development of an operational toolbox for predicting the health of the environment.

GLICOSIDASES E SULFATASES NO MOLUSCO MARINHO APLYSIA CERVINA

RESUMO Glicosaminoglicanos (GAGs) são carboidratos presentes em todos os organismos que apresentam organização tissular. Glicosidases e sulfatases são as enzimas envolvidas na degradação destes compostos em vertebrados e invertebrados. O objetivo deste trabalho foi identificar a presença destas enzimas em diferentes tecidos do molusco Aplysiacervina. O molusco foi dissecado em esôfago, fígado, moela e músculo e homogeneizados separadamente. Após centrifugação os sobrenadantes (extratos brutos) foram fracionados com sulfato de amônio nas concentrações de 0-30% (F-I), 30-50% (FII) e 50-80% (FIII). Foi identificada a presença de sulfatase, β-glucuronidase, β-D-N-acetilgalactosaminidase e α-glucosaminidase nos extratos brutos de todos os tecidos investigados. A enzima α-fucosidase não foi detectada em esôfago, nos extratos brutos e F-I de moela, mas sim nas frações de fígado e músculo. A sulfatase apresentou-se mais ativa na F-III de fígado e moela com atividades específicas de 3,0 e 4,8, respectivamente. A α-glucosaminidase foi mais ativa nas frações F-III de esôfago e músculo apresentando atividades específicas de 3,9 e 2,0, respectivamente. Estes resultados indicam a existência de atividade catabólica sobre os GAGs neste invertebrado marinho.

DDT contamination in Lake Maggiore (N. Italy) and effects on zebra mussel spawning

Zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) is commonly used as contaminant bioindicator in Europe and North America. We used the zebra mussel to follow DDT pollution trends from 1996 to 1997 in Pallanza bay, Lake Maggiore, near the inlet of the River Toce, after a DDT-manufacturing plant discharging residues into a tributary of the River Toce had closed down. DDT contamination fell off sharply outside the bay, but tissue concentrations of the parent compound and residues remained high in molluscs sampled within the bay a year later. Molluscs collected in Pallanza bay in June 1997 released gametes earlier than those sampled at a nearby reference station. Histological studies showed that a significant percentage of these specimens showed marked oocyte degeneration suggesting that DDTs have endocrine-disrupting effects in this species.

Molecular, cellular and physiological effects of oil-derived hydrocarbons on molluscs and their use in impact assessment

The impact of pollutants on an organism is realized as perturbations at different levels of functional complexity. This presentation considers responses to oil-derived hydrocarbons at the molecular, subcellular, cellular and whole animal levels of organization, with particular emphasis on the use of marine molluscs as sentinel organisms for assessing pollutant effects. A number of biological effects measurements are described which have been used in the development of early-warning systems based upon reactions to hydrocarboninduced damage. These include those of the microsomal cytochrome P-450 dependent monooxygenase system involved in metabolism of organic xenobiotics, functional and structural responses of lysosomes to hydrocarbons, quantitative structural alterations in the cells of the digestive and reproductive systems and effects on physiological scope for growth and parallel correlations of this latter parameter with ecological parameters such as species diversity. Aspects of recovery processes are also considered. Examples of both laboratory and field studies are cited to illustrate both the application of these approaches and the functional integration of the responses at the various levels of biological organization. This ability to link the various parameters in a functional manner is believed to strengthen the rationale for their use in impact assessment.

Automated measurement of lysosomal structure alterations in oocytes of mussels exposed to petroleum hydrocarbons

The present study examines the structure of the lysosomal system of mature oocytes in mussels, Mytilus galloprovincialis, after a 21 day exposure to the water accommodated fraction (WAF) of two crude oils (types Ural and Maya) and of a commercial lubricant oil. The automated image analysis indicates that lysosomes, showing cytochemically demonstrable beta-glucuronidase activity, are smaller and much more numerous in oocytes of mussels treated with a 40% dose of Ural- and Lubricant-WAF when compared to controls. It is suggested that the structure of the lysosomal system of oocytes is different from that of somatic cells (i.e., digestive cells) and that budding or "fission" into smaller bodies occurs in oocyte lysosomes under certain petroleum hydrocarbon-exposure conditions. These changes in the lysosomal compartment appear to be associated to the process of gamete release or spawning.

Hydrolytic enzymes associated with the granular haemocytes of the marine mussel Mytilus edulis

The ultrastructural localization of a range of hydrolytic enzymes has been investigated in the granular haemocytes of the marine mussel Mytilus edulis. Arylsulphatase activity and immunocytochemical localization of beta-glucuronidase and elastase were demonstrated within the large granules of the haemocytes. Lysozyme and cathepsin B were both localized within all sizes of granule, however, at high dilutions the primary antibody against lysozyme was also restricted to the large granules. The labelling density for cathepsin B antibody tended to be very low. Antibodies for cathepsin G showed a clear, discrete labelling which was restricted to the granules of haemocytes containing small granules. The fact that antibodies raised against human proteinases recognize invertebrate enzymes suggests that there must be a certain degree of structural similarity between the human proteinases and the enzymes present in the mussel haemocytes indicating either convergence or conservation of the enzyme molecules. The presence of a range of hydrolytic enzymes including proteinases, glycosidases and sulphatases within the large granules shows that these granules are a form of lysosome. The reduction in activity of lysosomal enzymes in haemocytes following adhesion to glass is evidence for release of the enzymes from the granules (degranulation). The possibility of a serine protease being specifically associated with the small granules and its role as a cytolysin are discussed.

Arylsulphatase and acid phosphatase activity associated with developing and ripe spermatozoa of the mussel Mytilus edulis

Arylsulphatase and acid phosphatase activity were demonstrated cytochemically in spermatozoa of the marine mussel Mytilus edulis. Reaction product resulting from arylsulphatase activity was measured using an integrating microdensitometer and found to increase with incubation time and to be variable according to the pH of the incubation medium. Two peaks in activity, at pH 4.5 and 6.0 were evident for some experimental protocols suggesting the possibility of two isoenzymes; however, studies on the ultrastructural localization of the enzyme showed no difference between sites of activity for the two pH values. Ultrastructural localization of arylsulphatase showed activity associated with the Golgi body of developing spermatids and in particular within the proacrosomal vesicles but limited to the periphery of the acrosomal vesicle which is formed with the fusion of the proacrosomal vesicles. In spawned spermatozoa arylsulphatase activity was localized in association with the axial rod and subacrosomal material; activity also occurred along the outer acrosomal membrane and within the acrosomal vesicle and also associated with the acrosomal process following the acrosome reaction. Sulphate groups were demonstrated cytochemically within the vitelline coat of oocytes in the mantle tissue. These findings suggest that arylsulphatase could be one of the lysins previously demonstrated in M. edulis spermatozoa. Acid phosphatase activity was demonstrated in spawned spermatozoa around the nuclear envelope and along the outer acrosomal membrane.

Arylsulphatase activity associated with phenanthrene induced digestive cell deletion in the marine mussel Mytilus edulis

The acid hydrolase arylsulphatase has been localized at the ultrastructural level in digestive cells of the marine mussel Mytilus edulis for control and phenanthrene-treated (200 micrograms/l) animals. In untreated mussels the activity was generally restricted to the lysosomal-vacuolar system and the Golgi apparatus. It was associated with all types of vesicle, although not all individual vesicles were reactive. In heterolysosomes which were filled with precipitate the reaction product was most densely associated with the limiting membranes. Lipid inclusions commonly occurred in the digestive cells; these sometimes showed limited reaction for enzyme activity. The striking difference between normal and phenanthrene-treated samples was the presence in all treated animals of reaction product in the inter-cellular spaces and varying degrees of cytoplasmic activity in a number of digestive cells. This is interpreted as a sign of impending cell deletion. Sections for morphological examination showed evidence of increased digestive cell deletion in phenanthrene-treated mussels. The process results in release of membrane-bound bodies into the tubule lumen.

Light and electron microscope localization of beta-glucuronidase activity in the stomach and digestive gland of the marine gastropod Littorina littorea

An azo dye technique was used to investigate localization of the acid hydrolase, beta-glucuronidase, at light and electron microscope level in the stomach and digestive gland of the marine periwinkle Littorina littorea. Activity for beta-glucuronidase was located principally within digestive cells of the digestive gland and also associated with the microvillous border and epithelial cells lining the stomach. At the light microscope level all digestive tubules showed activity which appeared essentially restricted to the large heterolysosomes of the digestive cells. However not all digestive cells showed activity. In the electron microscope, reaction product was apparent in all types of macrovesicle in the digestive cells although not all stained positively. Heterophagosomes typically showed reaction product around their periphery or associated with the electron opaque contents. Activity was commonly seen around the apical edge of heterolysosomes where merging of heterophagosomes into heterolysosomes was apparent. Reaction product was commonly located within small electron lucent vesicles which lined the internal membrane of the heterolysosomes but sometimes also associated with flocculent, electron opaque contents. In the stomach dense clusters of reaction product were visible in lysosomes in the basal region of the epithelial cells and in the large granular inclusions of the secretory cells.