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Molecular Pathogenesis of Marine Diseases

A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Biology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2022) | Viewed by 8049

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
1. Graduate Institute of Translational Medicine, College of Medical Science and Technology, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 110, Taiwan
2. International Center for the Scientific Development of Shrimp Aquaculture, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 701, Taiwan
Interests: DNA mimic protein; protein-DNA interaction; virus–host interaction; structural biology; marine pathology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Aquaculture provides us with a plentiful source of food. However, some marine diseases, such as shrimp white spot syndrome, acute hepatopancreatic necrosis disease, and grouper iridescent virus disease, have caused serious illness in  cultured organisms, and subsequent economic losses. Furthermore, in a high-density and high-pressure aquaculture environment, once a disease breaks out, it is very difficult to control. In practice, the understanding of molecular pathology is beneficial to the detection and treatment of diseases. Unfortunately, a handful of related reports about marine diseases are still seen. This Special Issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences focuses on exploring the molecular pathology of marine diseases. Studies on biomarker development, molecular mechanisms, host–pathogenic factor interactions, and other related areas of molecular pathology in marine diseases are welcome, and we hope that your contributions will lead to a breakthrough in prevention and treatment.

Prof. Dr. Hao-Ching Wang
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • molecular pathogenesis
  • marine diseases
  • biomarker development
  • molecular mechanism
  • host–pathogen interaction
  • shrimp white spot syndrome
  • acute hepatopancreatic necrosis disease
  • grouper iridescent virus disease

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 376 KiB  
Article
Early Molecular Immune Responses of Turbot (Scophthalmus maximus L.) Following Infection with Aeromonas salmonicida subsp. salmonicida
by Carlos Fajardo, Paulo Santos, Ricardo Passos, Mariana Vaz, Rita Azeredo, Marina Machado, Sergio Fernández-Boo, Teresa Baptista and Benjamin Costas
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24(16), 12944; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms241612944 - 18 Aug 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1637
Abstract
Turbot aquaculture production is an important economic activity in several countries around the world; nonetheless, the incidence of diseases, such furunculosis, caused by the etiological agent A. salmonicida subsp. salmonicida, is responsible for important losses to this industry worldwide. Given this perspective, [...] Read more.
Turbot aquaculture production is an important economic activity in several countries around the world; nonetheless, the incidence of diseases, such furunculosis, caused by the etiological agent A. salmonicida subsp. salmonicida, is responsible for important losses to this industry worldwide. Given this perspective, this study aimed to evaluate early immune responses in turbot (S. maximus L.) following infection with A. salmonicida subsp. salmonicida. For this, 72 fish were individually weighed and randomly distributed into 6 tanks in a circulating seawater system. For the bacterial challenge, half of the individuals (3 tanks with 36 individuals) were infected using a peritoneal injection with the bacterial suspension, while the other half of individuals were injected with PBS and kept as a control group. Several factors linked to the innate immune response were studied, including not only haematological (white blood cells, red blood cells, haematocrit, haemoglobin, mean corpuscular volume, mean cell haemoglobin, mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration, neutrophils, monocytes, lymphocytes, thrombocytes) and oxidative stress parameters, but also the analyses of the expression of 13 key immune-related genes (tnf-α, il-1β, il-8, pparα-1, acox1, tgf-β1, nf-kB p65, srebp-1, il-10, c3, cpt1a, pcna, il-22). No significant differences were recorded in blood or innate humoral parameters (lysozyme, anti-protease, peroxidase) at the selected sampling points. There was neither any evidence of significant changes in the activity levels of the oxidative stress indicators (catalase, glutathione S-transferase, lipid peroxidation, superoxide dismutase). In contrast, pro-inflammatory (tnf-α, il-1β), anti-inflammatory (il-10), and innate immune-related genes (c3) were up-regulated, while another gene linked with the lipid metabolism (acox1) was down-regulated. The results showed new insights about early responses of turbot following infection with A. salmonicida subsp. salmonicida. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular Pathogenesis of Marine Diseases)
16 pages, 14512 KiB  
Article
LvCD14L Acts as a Novel Pattern Recognition Receptor and a Regulator of the Toll Signaling Pathway in Shrimp
by Xinjia Lv, Shihao Li, Yang Yu, Songjun Jin, Xiaojun Zhang and Fuhua Li
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24(9), 7770; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24097770 - 24 Apr 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1867
Abstract
Leucine-rich repeat (LRR) is a structural motif has important recognition function in immune receptors, such as Tolls and NOD-like receptors (NLRs). The immune-related LRR proteins can be divided into two categories, LRR-containing proteins and LRR-only proteins. The latter contain LRR motifs while they [...] Read more.
Leucine-rich repeat (LRR) is a structural motif has important recognition function in immune receptors, such as Tolls and NOD-like receptors (NLRs). The immune-related LRR proteins can be divided into two categories, LRR-containing proteins and LRR-only proteins. The latter contain LRR motifs while they are without other functional domains. However, the functional mechanisms of the LRR-only proteins were still unclear in invertebrates. Here, we identified a gene encoding a secretory LRR-only protein, which possessed similarity with vertebrate CD14 and was designated as LvCD14L, from the Pacific whiteleg shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei. Its transcripts in shrimp hemocytes were apparently responsive to the infection of Vibrio parahaemolyticus. Knockdown of LvCD14L with dsRNA resulted in significant increase of the viable bacteria in the hepatopancreas of shrimp upon V. parahaemolyticus infection. Further functional studies revealed that LvCD14L could bind to microorganisms’ PAMPs, showed interaction with LvToll1 and LvToll2, and regulated the expression of LvDorsal and LvALF2 in hemocytes. These results suggest that LvCD14L functions as a pattern recognition receptor and activates the NF-κB pathway through interaction with LvTolls. The present study reveals a shrimp LvCD14L-Tolls-NF-κB signaling pathway like the CD14/TLR4/NF-κB signaling pathway in mammalians, which enriches the functional mechanism of secretory LRR-only immune receptors during pathogens infection in invertebrates. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular Pathogenesis of Marine Diseases)
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20 pages, 1607 KiB  
Article
Functional and Molecular Immune Response of Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) Following Challenge with Yersinia ruckeri
by Carlos Fajardo, Paulo Santos, Ricardo Passos, Mariana Vaz, Rita Azeredo, Marina Machado, Sergio Fernández-Boo, Teresa Baptista and Benjamin Costas
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2022, 23(6), 3096; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms23063096 - 13 Mar 2022
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 3869
Abstract
Currently, aquaculture production of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) is a multibillion dollar industry; nevertheless, the development of this sector has not been exempt from pitfalls related to the recurrent presence of pathogens of bacterial origin. This is the case of Yersinia [...] Read more.
Currently, aquaculture production of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) is a multibillion dollar industry; nevertheless, the development of this sector has not been exempt from pitfalls related to the recurrent presence of pathogens of bacterial origin. This is the case of Yersinia ruckeri, the etiologic agent of the infectious pathology known as Enteric Red Mouth Disease (ERM), causing serious economic losses that can be as high as 30–70% of production. Although several studies have been performed regarding pathogen features and virulence factors, more information is needed about the host defense mechanism activation after infection. Given this perspective, this study aimed to evaluate rainbow trout’s short-term innate immune response against infection with Y. ruckeri. A series of factors linked to the innate immune response were evaluated, including determination of hematological parameters, oxidative stress biomarkers, and analysis of the expression of immune-related genes. Results showed a significant decrease in several hematological parameters (white blood cell count, hematocrit, neutrophils, monocytes, lymphocytes, and thrombocytes) and oxidative stress indicators (SOD) between the control and infected groups. In addition, there were significant differences in the level of gene expression between infected individuals and the control group. Most of these genes (il-1β, il-8, il-10, tnf-α1, tnf-α2, socs3, mmp-9, cath, hsp-70, saa, fer, pcb) were upregulated within the first 24 h following infection. Results from this study showed more insights into the short-term immune response of rainbow trout to infection with Y. ruckeri, which may be useful for the establishment of biomarkers that may be used for the early detection of ERM. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular Pathogenesis of Marine Diseases)
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