0000000000019437
AUTHOR
Marco Chiaramonte
Cytotoxic activity of Holothuria tubulosa (Echinodermata) coelomocytes.
Abstract The immune system of marine invertebrates, in particular that of holothurians, still requires further study. Our research showed that coelomocyte cells contained in the coelomic fluid of the sea cucumber, Holothuria tubulosa, are able to lyse, in vitro, red blood cells in rabbits and sheep. A plaque-forming assay showed spherule cells to be the effector cells, able to release cytotoxic molecules after xenogenic cell contact. The coelomocyte lysate supernatant, analysed by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis overlay technique, using rabbit and sheep erythrocytes, showed two different haemolytic protein patterns: one calcium dependent and the other calcium independent. The fractions o…
The echinoderm innate humoral immune response
Abstract: Multicellular organisms have an immune system, which is essential for the survival of living beings. Interest in the immune system has been expanded since common characteristics of innate immunity between Drosophila melanogaster (Meigen, 1830) and mammals were discovered in the 1980. Since then, immunology has mainly focused on the adaptive immune system that seems to be restricted to vertebrates. Unlike the innate immunity, the adaptive one is acquired after exposure to a specific antigen (Ag) and includes: antigen-presenting cells such as macrophages, proliferation of B and T lymphocytes, Ag-specific antibody/cytokine production and immunological memory. Innate immunity is inste…
Response to metals treatment of Fra1, a member of the AP-1 transcription factor family, in P. lividus sea urchin embryos
Abstract Lithium (Li), Nickel (Ni), and Zinc (Zn) are metals normally present in the seawater, although they can have adverse effects on the marine ecosystem at high concentrations by interfering with many biological processes. These metals are toxic for sea urchin embryos, affecting their morphology and developmental pathways. In particular, they perturb differently the correct organization of the embryonic axes (animal-vegetal, dorso-ventral): Li is a vegetalizing agent and Ni disrupts the dorso-ventral axis, while Zn has an animalizing effect. To deeply address the response of Paracentrotus lividus embryos to these metals, we studied the expression profiling of Pl-Fra transcription facto…
New antimicrobial peptides from Tirmania pinoyi and Terfezia boudieri in the struggle against antibiotic resistance
Antibiotic resistance of common pathogenic microorganisms is a topic of great concern that has finally received media attention and entered into the political agenda of world leaders. Drug-resistant bacteria are cause of thousands of deaths worldwide, then there is an urgent need for new antimicrobials, otherwise we risk losing the ability to control effectively the infectious diseases. Such emergence can be faced looking also at not usual source of antimicrobial agents, for example medicinal mushrooms. With the objective to tackle Gram-positive and Gram-negative pathogens, we focused on two edible desert truffles mushrooms Tirmania pinoyi and Terfezia boudieri as origin of new antimicrobia…
Nickel toxicity in P. lividus embryos: Dose dependent effects and gene expression analysis.
Abstract Many industrial activities release Nickel (Ni) in the environment with harmful effects for terrestrial and marine organisms. Despite many studies on the mechanisms of Ni toxicity are available, the understanding about its toxic effects on marine organisms is more limited. We used Paracentrotus lividus as a model to analyze the effects on the stress pathways in embryos continuously exposed to different Ni doses, ranging from 0.03 to 0.5 mM. We deeply examined the altered embryonic morphologies at 24 and 48 h after Ni exposure. Some different phenotypes have been classified, showing alterations at the expenses of the dorso-ventral axis as well as the skeleton and/or the pigment cells…
Humoral responses during wound healing in Holothuria tubulosa (Gmelin, 1788)
Abstract Wounds in living organisms trigger tissue-repair mechanisms. The sea cucumber (Holoturia tubulosa) is an excellent model species for achieving a better understanding of the humoral and cellular aspects involved in such healing processes. Consequently, this study assesses data on its morphometric, physiological and humoral responses 1, 2, 6, 24 and 48h after wound induction. In particular, morphometric data on the weight, width, length and coelomic-fluid volume of the species were estimated at different times during our experiments. In addition, the humoral aspects related to the enzymatic activity of esterase, alkaline phosphatase and peroxidase, as well as the cytotoxic activity o…
Identification of New Antimicrobial Peptides from Mediterranean Medical Plant Charybdis pancration (Steinh.) Speta
The present work was designed to identify and characterize novel antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) from Charybdis pancration (Steinh.) Speta, previously named Urginea maritima, is a Mediterranean plant, well-known for its biological properties in traditional medicine. Polypeptide-enriched extracts from different parts of the plant (roots, leaves and bulb), never studied before, were tested against two relevant pathogens, Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. With the aim of identifying novel natural AMPs, peptide fraction displaying antimicrobial activity (the bulb) that showed minimum inhibitory concentration (MICs) equal to 30 µ
Salmo salar fish waste oil: Fatty acids composition and antibacterial activity
Background and aims Fish by-products are generally used to produce fishmeal or fertilizers, with fish oil as a by-product. Despite their importance, fish wastes are still poorly explored and characterized and more studies are needed to reveal their potentiality. The goal of the present study was to qualitatively characterize and investigate the antimicrobial effects of the fish oil extracted from Salmo salar waste samples and to evaluate the potential use of these compounds for treating pathogen infections. Methods Salmo salar waste samples were divided in two groups: heads and soft tissues. Fatty acids composition, and in particular the content in saturated (SAFAs), mono-unsaturated (MUFA…
Antibacterial Activity of Desert Truffles from Saudi Arabia Against Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa
Abstract Medicinal mushrooms represent an unlimited source of polysaccharides with nutritional, antitumoral, antibacterial, and immune-stimulating properties. Traditional studies of epigeous higher Basidiomycetes have recently been joined by studies of hypogeous fungi and, in particular, of so-called desert truffles. With the aim to obtain novel agents against bacteria of clinical importance, we focused on the edible desert truffle mushrooms Tirmania pinoyi, Terfezia claveryi, and Picoa juniperi as sources of new antimicrobial agents. In particular, we investigated the in vitro antibacterial activity of acid-soluble protein extracts (aqueous extracts) of these 3 species against the Gram-pos…
Stress and immune response to bacterial LPS in the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus (Lamarck, 1816).
The immune system of the sea urchin species Paracentrotus lividus is highly complex and, as yet, poorly understood. P. lividus coelomocytes mediate immune response through phagocytosis and encapsulation of non-self particles, in addition to the production of antimicrobial molecules. Despite this understanding, details of exactly how these processes occur and the mechanisms which drive them are still in need of clarification. In this study, we show how the bacterial lipopolysaccharides (LPS) is able to induce a stress response which increases the levels of the heat shock proteins HSP70 and HSP90 only a few hours after treatment. This study also shows that LPS treatment increases the expressi…
Allograft Inflammatory Factor AIF-1: early immune response in the Mediterranean sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus
Echinoderms are a phylum of deuterostomic invertebrates that play a key role in maintaining the biodiversity of marine ecosystems. They represent a good study model for immunity because their coelomic fluid contains different types of cells involved in the inflammatory response: the coelomocytes. In the case of the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus, the coelomocyte population is mainly represented by amoebocytes and uncoloured spherulocytes that implement a defence program through phagocytosis, encapsulation, cytotoxicity, and production of antimicrobial agents. The purpose of this study was to find evidence of a possible modulating effect of lipopolysaccharide LPS on the expression of the A…
Therapy expectations and physical comorbidity affect quality of life in chronic hepatitis C virus infection.
Summary. Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is associated with a significant reduction of health related quality of life (QOL), the causes and mechanisms of which are still unknown. To explore whether treatment history could affect QOL, we examined patients with detectable HCV viraemia who had a different therapeutic background. Two hundred sixty-four consecutive subjects with chronic HCV infection and detectable viraemia were enrolled. Of these, 163 were untreated patients, 43 were relapsers, 58 were nonresponders (NR) to nonpegylated interferon (IFN) therapy. To assess QOL, three self-report instruments were employed: the Short Form-36 (SF-36), the Chronic Liver Disease Questionnaire (CLD…
Effects of acoustic stimulation on biochemical parameters in the digestive gland of Mediterranean mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis (Lamarck, 1819)
Underwater sounds generated by anthropogenic activity can cause behavior changes, temporary loss of hearing, damage to parts of the body, or death in a number of marine organisms and can also affect healing and survival. In this study, the authors examined the effects of high-frequency acoustic stimulations on a number of biochemical parameters in the Mediterranean mussel, Mytilus galloprovincialis. During the experiment, animals were placed in a test tank and exposed to acoustic signals [a linear sweep ranging from 100 to 200 kHz and lasting 1 s, with a sound pressure level range of between 145 and 160 dBrms (re 1μParms)] for 3 h. Total haemocyte count was assessed and glucose levels, cyto…
Changes in the proteome of sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus coelomocytes in response to LPS injection into the body cavity.
Background The immune system of echinoderm sea urchins is characterised by a high degree of complexity that is not completely understood. The Mediterranean sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus coelomocytes mediate immune responses through phagocytosis, encapsulation of non-self particles, and production of diffusible factors including antimicrobial molecules. Details of these processes, and molecular pathways driving these mechanisms, are still to be fully elucidated. Principal findings In the present study we treated the sea urchin P. lividus with the bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and collected coelomocytes at different time-points (1, 3, 6 and 24 hours). We have shown, using label-free q…
Evolutionary conserved pathway of the innate immune response after a viral insult in Paracentrotus lividus sea urchin
Despite the apparent simplicity of the body organization of echinoderms, their immune system is competent to perform a complex innate immune response, which is far from being well understood. The echinoderms represent the most advanced invertebrates that form a bridge with the primitive chordates. In fact, they possess numerous receptors and effectors that are used to obtain a fast immune response. After an infection, the humoral and cellular immune response determines a network in which the main protagonists are membrane and endosomal receptors. The recognition of nonself molecules by specific membrane receptors triggers the immune response, stimulating consecutive intracellular events. We…
A member of the Tlr family is involved in dsRNA innate immune response in Paracentrotus lividus sea urchin
Abstract The innate immune response involves proteins such as the membrane receptors of the Toll-like family (TLRs), which trigger different intracellular signalling pathways that are dependent on specific stimulating molecules. In sea urchins, TLR proteins are encoded by members of a large multigenic family composed of 60–250 genes in different species. Here, we report a newly identified mRNA sequence encoding a TLR protein (referred to as Pl-Tlr) isolated from Paracentrotus lividus immune cells. The partial protein sequence contained the conserved Toll/IL-1 receptor (TIR) domain, the transmembrane domain and part of the leucine repeats. Phylogenetic analysis of the Pl-Tlr protein was acco…