Trypsin and N-aminopeptidase (APN) activities in the hepatopancreas of an intertidal euryhaline crab: Biochemical characteristics and differential modulation by histamine and salinity

The role of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) in salinity adaptation in Pacific white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei)

The renin-angiotensin system (RAS) is a hormonal system that plays an important role in the regulation of blood pressure and cardiovascular homeostasis in mammals. In fishes, the RAS pathway participates in osmoregulation and salinity adaptation. However, the role of the RAS pathway in invertebrates, particularly in crustaceans, remains unknown. In this study, four key genes of the RAS pathway (LV-ACE, LV-APN, LV-AT1R, and LV-RR) were cloned, characterized, and their expression levels were detected in the eyestalk, hepatopancreas, and muscle of Litopenaeus vannamei during long-term and short-term low salinity stress. The results showed that LV-ACE, LV-APN, LV-AT1R, and LV-RR encode 666, 936, 175, and 323 amino acids, respectively. Low salinity stress downregulated the expression levels of LV-ACE, LV-APN, LV-AT1R, and LV-RR in L. vannamei, indicating that the RAS pathway was suppressed under low salinity. Moreover, these genes play important roles in the regulation of drinking rate, controlling urine output, blood glucose, and blood pressure, indicating that their downregulation probably affected the homeostasis of shrimps. These findings provide novel insights into the mechanism of salinity adaptation in L. vannamei.

Prejuveniles of Mugil liza (Actinopterygii; Fam. Mugilidae) show digestive and metabolic flexibility upon different postprandial times and refeeding

Many animals face periods of feeding restrictions implying fasting and refeeding. The determination of digestive/metabolic and body condition parameters at different times of food deprivation and after refeeding allows to evaluate the postprandial dynamics, the transition from feeding to fasting and the capacity to reverse digestive and metabolic alterations. In spite of its physiological importance, studies on estuarine-dependent detritivore fish are lacking. We determined total mass (TM), relative intestine length (RIL), hepatosomatic index (HSI), digestive enzymes activities in the intestine and energy reserves in liver and muscle at 0, 24, 72, 144 and 240 h after feeding and at 72 h after refeeding in prejuveniles of Mugil liza (Mugilidae) as a model species. After feeding, a decrease occurred in: TM (144 h, 25%), RIL (144 h, 23%); amylase and maltase (72 h, 45 and 35%), sucrase (24 h, 40%) and lipase (24 h, 70%) in intestine; glycogen and free glucose (72 h, 90 and 92%) in liver. In muscle, glycogen (72-144 h) and free glucose (144 h) (170% and 165%, respectively) peak increased; triglycerides decreased at 24-240 h (50%). After refeeding TM, RIL, carbohydrases activities in intestine, glycogen and free glucose in liver were recovered. In muscle, glycogen and free glucose were similar to 0 h; lipase activity and triglycerides were not recovered. Trypsin and APN in intestine, triglycerides in liver, protein in liver and muscle and HSI did not change. The differential modulation of key components of carbohydrates and lipid metabolism after feeding/refeeding would allow to face fasting and recover body condition. Our results improve lacking knowledge about digestive and metabolic physiology of detritivore fish.

Synthesis of digestive enzymes, food processing, and nutrient absorption in decapod crustaceans: a comparison to the mammalian model of digestion

The ∼15.000 decapod crustaceans that are mostly omnivorous have evolved a structurally and functionally complex digestive system. They have highly effective cuticular chewing and filtering structures in the stomach, which are regularly renewed by moulting. Decapods produce a broad range of digestive enzymes including chitinases, cellulases, and collagenases with unique properties. These enzymes are synthesized in the F-cells of the hepatopancreas and are encoded in the genome as pre-pro-proteins. In contrast to mammals, they are stored in a mature form in the lumen of the stomach to await the next meal, and therefore, the enzymes are particularly stable. The fat emulsifiers are fatty acyl-dipeptides rather than bile salts. After mechanical and chemical processing of the food in the cardiac stomach, the chyme is filtered by two unique filter systems of different mesh-size. The filtrate is then transferred to the hepatopancreas where the nutrients are absorbed by the R-cells, mostly via carriers, resembling nutrient absorption in the small intestine of mammals. The absorbed nutrients are used to fuel the metabolism of the hepatopancreas, are supplied to other organs, and are stored in the R-cells as glycogen and lipid reserves. Export lipids are secreted from the R-cells into the haemolymph as high density lipoproteins that mainly consist of phospholipids. In contrast to mammals, the midgut tube and hindgut contribute only little to food processing and nutrient absorption. The oesophagus, stomach and hindgut are well innervated but the hepatopancreas lacks nerves. Hormone cells are abundant in the midgut and hepatopancreas epithelia. Microorganisms are often present in the intestine of decapods, but they are apparently not essential for digestion and nutrition.

Understanding the early ontogenetic stages of Mugil liza (Mugilidae): Morphological traits and digestive/metabolic profile of pre-juveniles after recruitment

The family Mugilidae consists mainly of diadromous species, whose reproduction occurs in offshore waters. Pre-juveniles shift their diet in the surf zone (zooplanktophagous to iliophagous). Later, during their recruitment into estuaries, huge changes take place in their digestive system. However, digestive and metabolic characteristics and some morphological traits at recruitment are unknown for Mugilidae. We performed comparative studies on early and late pre-juveniles of Mugil liza recruited in Mar Chiquita Coastal Lagoon (37°32'-37°45'S, 57°19'-57°26'W, Argentina). We determined digestive enzyme activities (intestine), energy reserves (liver/muscle), total/standard length, total weight, intestinal coefficient, hepatosomatic index and retroperitoneal fat. Pre-juveniles exhibited amylase, maltase, sucrase, lipase, trypsin and aminopeptidase-N (APN) activities, which were maintained over a wide range of pH and temperature, and exhibited Michaelis-Menten kinetics. In late pre-juveniles, amylase (422 ± 131 μmol maltose min^-1 mgprot^-1 ), sucrase (86 ± 14 mg glucose min^-1 mgprot^-1 ), trypsin (84 ± 9 μmoles min^-1 mgprot^-1 ) and APN (0.58 ± 0.08 μmoles min^-1 mgprot^-1 ) activities were higher (42%, 28%, 35% and 28%, respectively) than in the early stage. Also, the intestinal coefficient was higher in late (3.04) compared to early (2.06) pre-juveniles. Moreover, the liver appeared to be a main site of glycogen and triglyceride storage in late pre-juveniles, muscle being the site of storage in early pre-juveniles, exhibiting higher glycogen, free glucose and protein concentrations (92%, 82%, 32%, respectively). The results suggest that pre-juveniles of M. liza exhibit an adequate digestive battery to perform complete hydrolysis of various dietary substrates, availability of energy reserves and morphological characteristics to support their feeding habit and growth after recruitment. Our results represent an important contribution to knowledge of the ecology and digestive physiology of pre-juveniles of Mugilidae in the wild.

Crustacean Proteases and Their Application in Debridement

Digestive proteases from marine organisms have been poorly applied to biomedicine. Exceptions are trypsin and other digestive proteases from a few cold-adapted or temperate fish and crustacean species. These enzymes are more efficient than enzymes from microorganism and higher vertebrates that have been used traditionally. However, the biomedical potential of digestive proteases from warm environment species has received less research attention. This review aims to provide an overview of this unrealised biomedical potential, using the debridement application as a paradigm. Debridement is intended to remove nonviable, necrotic and contaminated tissue, as well as fibrin clots, and is a key step in wound treatment. We discuss the physiological role of enzymes in wound healing, the use of exogenous enzymes in debridement, and the limitations of cold-adapted enzymes such as their poor thermal stability. We show that digestive proteases from tropical crustaceans may have advantages over their cold-adapted counterparts for this and similar uses. Differences in thermal stability, auto-proteolytic stability, and susceptibility to proteinase inhibitors are discussed. Furthermore, it is proposed that the feeding behaviour of the source organism may direct the evaluation of enzymes for particular applications, as digestive proteases have evolved to fill a wide variety of feeding habitats, natural substrates, and environmental conditions. We encourage more research on the biomedical application of digestive enzymes from tropical marine crustaceans.

Differential modulation after feeding in different salinities and response to abscisic acid (ABA) and extracellular Ca2+ of aminopeptidase N (APN) activity in the hepatopancreas of the intertidal euryhaline crab Neohelice granulata

Modulation of aminopeptidase N (APN) activity in the digestive tract by various factors would be important to adjust digestive and absorptive processes under different physiological and (or) environmental conditions. We studied the postprandial responses at different salinities and the effect of abscisic acid (ABA) and extracellular Ca2+ on APN activity in the hepatopancreas (the main site for nutrient digestion and absorption) of the model species Neohelice granulata (Dana, 1851). Enzyme activity was determined at different times (0, 24, 48, and 72 h) after feeding in crabs acclimated either to 35 psu (osmoconformation) or 10 psu (hyper-regulation). APN activity increased around 50% at 24 h after feeding at 35 psu, whereas no changes occurred at 10 psu. Enzyme activity was also assayed in the presence of ABA (1 × 10–4 mol·L–1) or extracellular Ca2+ (1 × 10–4 mol·L–1), showing increments of 60% and 56%, respectively. The results suggest a role of APN in postprandial adjustments and its modulation by different chemical messengers by direct effect on the hepatopancreas. Moreover, to our knowledge, this work is the first to show the effect of ABA on a digestive enzyme in the digestive tract of an animal.

Evolution of digestive enzyme genes associated with dietary diversity of crabs

Crabs feed on a wide range of items and display diverse feeding strategies. The primary objective of this study was to investigate 10 digestive enzyme genes in representative crabs to provide insights into the genetic basis of feeding habits among crab functional groups. Crabs were classified into three groups based on their feeding habits: herbivores (HV), omnivores (OV), and carnivores (CV). To test whether crabs' feeding adaptations matched adaptive evolution of digestive enzyme genes, we examined the 10 digestive enzyme genes of 12 crab species based on hepatopancreas transcriptome data. Each of the digestive enzyme genes was compared to orthologous sequences using both nucleotide- (i.e., PAML and Datamonkey) and protein-level (i.e., TreeSAAP) approaches. Positive selection genes were detected in HV crabs (AMYA, APN, and MGAM) and CV crabs (APN, CPB, PNLIP, RISC, TRY, and XPD). Additionally, a series of positive selection sites were localized in important functional regions of these digestive enzyme genes. This is the first study to characterize the molecular basis of crabs' digestive enzyme genes based on functional feeding group. Our data suggest that HV crabs have evolved an enhanced digestion capacity for carbohydrates, and CV crabs have acquired digestion capacity for proteins and lipids.