Effects of Copper on Hemocyte Apoptosis, ROS Production, and Gene Expression in White Shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei

• Published in: Biological trace element research Vol. 179; no. 2; pp. 318 - 326
• Main Authors: Guo, Hui, Li, Kexu, Wang, Wei, Wang, Chenggui, Shen, Yuchun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.10.2017; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Antioxidants; Apoptosis; Aquatic environment; Aquatic organisms; Biochemistry; Biomarkers; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biotechnology; Caspase; Caspase-3; Catalase; Chemical pollution; Contaminants; Copper; DNA; Exposure; Gene expression; Genes; Heavy metals; Hemocytes; IAP protein; Life Sciences; Litopenaeus vannamei; Metallothionein; Metallothioneins; Nucleotide sequence; Nutrition; Oncology; Organic chemistry; Oxidative stress; PCR; Proteins; Ratios; Shellfish; Stress response; Superoxide dismutase; Time dependence; Zinc; Copper; Gene expression; ROS production; Apoptosis; Litopenaeus vannamei
• ISSN: 0163-4984; 1559-0720
• DOI: 10.1007/s12011-017-0974-6

Copper, a common chemical contaminant in aquatic environment, is known to be toxic to aquatic life at high concentrations. In the present study, we evaluated the apoptotic cell ratio and ROS production in hemocytes of the white shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei exposed to 1 or 5 mg L −1 Cu for 0, 3, 6, 12, 24, and 48 h. The expression changes of antioxidant biomarker genes, i.e., copper-zinc superoxide dismutase (Cu-Zn SOD) and catalase (CAT), apoptosis-related genes, i.e., caspase-3 and inhibitor of apoptosis protein (IAP), and a specific biomarker gene of heavy metal pollution, i.e., metallothionein (MT), were also determined in hemocytes. Significant increases in ROS production were observed in both treatment groups at each time points. The apoptotic cell ratios were significantly increased at 6–48 h among shrimp exposed to 1 mg L −1 Cu and at each time points in 5 mg L −1 Cu group. These results indicated that Cu would induce oxidative stress and apoptosis in the hemocyte of L. vannamei . Quantitative real-time PCR analysis revealed that the relative expression levels of Cu-Zn SOD, CAT, caspase-3, IAP, and MT were upregulated in a dose-dependent and time-dependent manner, suggesting the involvement of these genes in stress response against Cu exposure.