Molecular cloning of hsf1 and hsbp1 cDNAs, and the expression of hsf1, hsbp1 and hsp70 under heat stress in the sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus

Structural and functional characterization of Hdh-HSBP1 and its involvement in heat stress and early development in Pacific abalone, Haliotis discus hannai

Heat shock factor binding protein 1 (HSBP1) is known to regulate the activity of heat shock factor 1 (HSF1) and the early development of organisms. To understand the involvement of HSBP1 in the heat shock response and embryonic and larval development of Pacific abalone (Haliotis discus hannai), the Hdh-HSBP1 gene was sequenced from the digestive gland (DG) tissue. The full-length sequence of Hdh-HSBP1 encompassed 738 nucleotides, encoding an 8.42 kDa protein consisting of 75 deduced amino acids. The protein contains an HSBP1 domain and a coiled-coil domain, which are conserved features in the HSBP1 protein family. Protein-protein molecular docking revealed that the coiled-coil region of Hdh-HSBP1 binds to the coiled-coil region of Hdh-HSF1. Tissue expression analysis demonstrated that the highest Hdh-HSBP1 expression occurred in the DG, whereas seasonal expression analysis revealed that this gene was most highly expressed in summer. In heat-stressed abalone, the highest expression of Hdh-HSBP1 occurred at 30 °C. Moreover, time-series analysis revealed that the expression of this gene began to increase significantly at 6 h post-heat stress, with higher expression observed at 12 h and 24 h post-heat stress. Furthermore, Hdh-HSBP1 mRNA expression showed a link to ROS production. Additionally, the expression of Hdh-HSBP1 showed significantly higher expression in the early stages of embryonic development in Pacific abalone. These results suggest that Hdh-HSBP1 plays a crucial role in the stress physiology of Pacific abalone by interacting with Hdh-HSF1, as well as its embryonic development.

Sea cucumber physiological response to abiotic stress: Emergent contaminants and climate change

The ocean is facing a multitude of abiotic stresses due to factors such as climate change and pollution. Understanding how organisms in the ocean respond to these global changes is vital to better predicting consequences. Sea cucumbers are popular echinoderms with multiple ecological, nutritional, and pharmaceutical benefits. Here, we reviewed the effects of environmental change on an ecologically important echinoderm of the ocean, aiming to understand their response better, which could facilitate healthy culture programs under environmental changes and draw attention to knowledge gaps. After screening articles from the databases, 142 studies were included on the influence of emergent contaminants and climate variation on the early developmental stages and adults of sea cucumbers. We outlined the potential mechanism underlying the physiological response of sea cucumbers to emerging contaminants and climate change. It can be concluded that the physiological response of sea cucumbers to emergent contaminants differs from their response to climate change. Sea cucumbers could accumulate pollutants in their organs but are aestivated when exposed to extreme climate change. Research showed that the physiological response of sea cucumbers to pollutants indicates that these pollutants impair critical physiological processes, particularly during the more susceptible early phases of development compared to adults, and the accumulation of these pollutants in adults is often observed. For climate change, sea cucumbers showed gradual adaptation to the slight variation. However, sea cucumbers undergo aestivation under extreme conditions. Based on this review, critical suggestions for future research are presented, and we call for more efforts focusing on the co-occurrence of different stressors to extend the knowledge regarding the effects of environmental changes on these economically and ecologically important species.

Cloning and characterization of heat shock transcription factor 1 and its functional role for Hsp70 production in the sea slug Onchidium reevesii

To investigate the regulatory role of heat shock transcription factor 1 of sea slug Onchidium reevesii (OrHSF1) on Hsp70 expression in the sea slug under stress , the OrHSF1 gene was cloned and bioinformatics analysis was performed, then the gene and protein expressions by RNA interference (RNAi) mediated knockdown of OrHSF1 expression were measured to clarify the regulatory relationship between OrHSF1 and Hsp70 under low-frequency noise (LFN) stress. Our study was the first to clone a 1572 bp sequence of the OrHSF1 gene, with the sequence coding for amino acids (CDS) being 729 bp, encoding 243 amino acids. O. reevesii shared a close evolutionary relationship with mollusks such as the Aplysia californica. OrHSF1 gene is widely expressed in different tissues of sea slugs, with the highest expression in the intestine and the lowest in the reproductive glands. Furthermore, we used RNA interference (RNAi) as a tool to silence the OrHSF1 gene in the central nervous system (CNS) and the results indicated that gene silencing was occurring systematically in the CNS and the suppression of OrHSF1 expression by RNAi-mediated gene silencing altered the expression of Hsp70; besides, the expression trends of OrHSF1 gene and Hsp70 were consistent in the 3 and 5-day RNAi experiment. Moreover, in sea slugs injected with siHSF1 and exposed to LFN, the mRNA expression and protein expression of Hsp70 in the CNS were significantly decreased compared to the low-frequency noise group (P < 0.05). This study demonstrated that OrHSF1 regulates Hsp70 expression in marine mollusks under low-frequency noise, and HSF1-Hsp70 axis plays a key role in stress response.

Augmentation of the heat shock axis during exceptional longevity in Ames dwarf mice

How the heat shock axis, repair pathways, and proteostasis impact the rate of aging is not fully understood. Recent reports indicate that normal aging leads to a 50% change in several regulatory elements of the heat shock axis. Most notably is the age-dependent enhancement of inhibitory signals associated with accumulated heat shock proteins and hyper-acetylation associated with marked attenuation of heat shock factor 1 (HSF1)–DNA binding activity. Because exceptional longevity is associated with increased resistance to stress, this study evaluated regulatory check points of the heat shock axis in liver extracts from 12 months and 24 months long-lived Ames dwarf mice and compared these findings with aging wild-type mice. This analysis showed that 12M dwarf and wild-type mice have comparable stress responses, whereas old dwarf mice, unlike old wild-type mice, preserve and enhance activating elements of the heat shock axis. Old dwarf mice thwart negative regulation of the heat shock axis typically observed in usual aging such as noted in HSF1 phosphorylation at Ser307 residue, acetylation within its DNA binding domain, and reduction in proteins that attenuate HSF1–DNA binding. Unlike usual aging, dwarf HSF1 protein and mRNA levels increase with age and further enhance by stress. Together these observations suggest that exceptional longevity is associated with compensatory and enhanced HSF1 regulation as an adaptation to age-dependent forces that otherwise downregulate the heat shock axis.

Cross talk between heat shock protein 10 and a heat shock factor identified from Marsupenaeus japonicus

Heat shock factors (HSFs) and heat shock proteins (HSPs) are crucial regulators and effectors of the heat shock response (HSR). In this study, the full-length cDNA sequences of MjHSP10 and MjHSF1 were cloned by rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE). The deduced MjHSP10 and MjHSF1 amino acid (aa) sequences exhibited conserved structures and the functional features of HSP10 and HSF1, respectively. The tissue distributions and mRNA expression profiles of the two genes in response to heat stress were analyzed by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). MjHSP10 and MjHSF1 were ubiquitously expressed in various tissues. Heat stress induced a significant increase in MjHSP10 expression that tend to positively correlate with temperature. Additionally, MjHSF1 transcription was up-regulated less than MjHSP10 transcription under heat stress. MjHSF1 expression in the hepatopancreas was up-regulated under only long-term (48 h) heat stress, and MjHSF1 transcription in the gill increased under only acute (34 °C) heat stress. MjHSF1 knockdown by RNA interference (RNAi) down-regulated MjHSP10 expression. Glutathione-S-transferase (GST) pull-down assays showed an interaction between MjHSP10 and the DNA-binding domain (DBD) of MjHSF1. This study provided new insights into cross talk between HSP10 and HSF1 in Marsupenaeus japonicus.

Understanding microRNAs regulation in heat shock response in the sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus

The sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus is a valuable species in China. The extreme high temperature in the summer often results in high mortality. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play important post-transcriptional regulatory roles in gene expression and can influence heat shock response (HSR) greatly. In this study, we determined the expression profiles of miRNAs under heat stress (HS) in A. japonicus by using high-throughput sequencing technique. Among the differential expression miRNAs, we highlighted 41 differentially expressed miRNAs, many of which were involved in immunity process and disease regulation. Gene ontology and pathway analyses of putative target genes were also carried out. Cell-substrate adherens junction and cell-substrate junction were significantly enriched in GO analysis. Moreover, we made a correlation analysis between remarkable miRNAs and the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in sea cucumbers under HS. We identified 17 key miRNA-target pairs potentially regulated HSR of sea cucumbers. These results will provide new insights about miRNAs regulation and molecular adaptive mechanisms in sea cucumbers under HS.

RNA-seq based transcriptional analysis reveals dynamic genes expression profiles and immune-associated regulation under heat stress in Apostichopus japonicus

In this study, we explored the gene expression profiles in Apostichopus japonicus under continuous heat stress (6 h, 48 h and 192 h) by applying RNA-seq technique. A total of 676, 1010 and 1083 differentially expressed genes were detected at three heat stress groups respectively, which suggested complex regulation of various biological processes. Then we focused on the changing of immune system under HS in sea cucumbers. Key immune-associated genes were involved in heat stress response, which were classified into six groups: heat shock proteins, transferrin superfamily members, effector genes, proteases, complement system, and pattern recognition receptors and signaling. Moreover, the mRNA expression of the immune-associated genes were validated by the real time PCR. Our results showed that an immunological strategy in this species was developed to confront abrupt elevated temperatures in the environment.

Response of gut health and microbiota to sulfide exposure in Pacific white shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei

Sulfide is a natural and widely distributed toxicant. It can be commonly found on the interface between water and sediment in the aquatic environment. The Pacific white shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei starts life in the benthic zone soon after the mysis stage, an early stage of post larvae. Therefore, L. vannamei is inevitably affected by exposure to sulfide released from pond sediment. This study explored the toxicant effect of different concentrations of sulfide on the intestinal health and microbiota of Pacific white shrimp by monitoring the change of expression of inflammatory, immune related cytokines, and the structure of the intestinal microbiota. The gut histology, expressions of inflammatory and immune related cytokines (tumor necrosis factor-alpha, C-type lectin 3, myostatin and heat shock transcription factor 1), and the microbiota were determined in L. vannamei after exposure to 0 (control), 425.5 (1/10 LC 50-96 h), and 851 μg/L (1/5 LC 50-96 h) of sulfide for 21 days. With the increase of sulfide concentration, intestinal injury was aggravated and the inflammatory and immune related cytokines generated a range of reactions. The expression of myostatin (MSTN) was significantly down-regulated by the concentration of sulfide exposure. No difference in the expression of heat shock transcription factor 1 (HSF1) was found between the control and shrimp exposed to 425.5 μg/L, but significantly higher HSF1 expression was found in shrimp exposed to 851 μg/L of sulfide. Significantly higher values of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and C-type lectin 3 (CTL3) were found in the shrimp exposed to 425.5 μg/L of sulfide compared to the control, but a lower value was found in the shrimp exposed to 851 μg/L (P < 0.05). Sulfide also changed the intestinal microbial communities. The abundance of pathogenic bacteria, such as Cyanobacteria, Vibrio and Photobacterium, increased significantly with exposure to the increasing concentration of sulfide. The abundance of some anti-stress bacteria, such as Chlorobi and Fusobacterium, increased. Nitrospirae which can alleviate nitrite toxicity decreased. Microbacterium, Parachlamydia, and Shewanella were all commonly found and down-regulated in both sulfide groups, which is associated with an adaptation to sulfide stimulation. This study indicates that chronic exposure to sub-lethal levels of sulfide could lead to damage of the gut structure, stimulate the response of the inflammatory and immune systems, and shape the structure of the gut microbiota in L. vannamei.