Abstract
Environmental pollution in the aquatic environment poses a threat to the immune system of benthic organisms. The Macrophthalmus japonicus crab, which inhabits tidal flat sediments, is a marine invertebrate that provides nutrient and organic matter cycling as a means of purification. Here, we characterized the M. japonicus p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) gene, which plays key roles in the regulation of cellular immune and apoptosis responses. M. japonicus p38 MAPK displayed the characteristics of the conserved MAPK family with Thr-Gly-Tyr (TGY) motif and substrate-binding site Ala-Thr-Arg-Trp (ATRW). The amino acid sequence of the M. japonicus p38 MAPK showed a close phylogenetic relationship to Eriocheir sinensis MAPK14 and Scylla paramamosain p38 MAPK. The phylogenetic tree displayed two origins of p38 MAPK: crustacean and insect. The tissue distribution patterns showed the highest expression in the gills and hepatopancreas of M. japonicus crab. In addition, p38 MAPK expression in M. japonicus gills and hepatopancreas was evaluated after exposure to environmental pollutants such as perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), irgarol, di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), and bisphenol A (BPA). In the gills, p38 MAPK expression significantly increased after exposure to all concentrations of the chemicals on day 7. However, on day 1, there were increased p38 MAPK responses observed after PFOS and irgarol exposure, whereas decreased p38 MAPK responses were observed after DEHP and BPA exposure. The upregulation of p38 MAPK gene also significantly led to M. japonicus hepatopancreas being undertested in all environmental pollutants. The findings in this study supported that anti-stress responses against exposure to environmental pollutants were reflected in changes in expression levels in M. japonicus p38 MAPK signaling regulation as a cellular defense mechanism.
Highlights
Environmental changes due to anthropogenic pollution continuously cause potential threats to the health of marine organisms and these changes can lead to the accumulation of chemical toxicity in the benthos and sediment ecosystem
The ORF of M. japonicus p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) gene included the ED site, TGY motif, and substrate-binding site (ATRW) that were highly conserved as reported in all p38 subfamily members [1,15,38]. p38 MAPK activation was triggered by the dual phosphorylation of both
Thr and Tyr in the TGY motif, and the ATRW domain as the kinase interaction motif (KIM) docking site is required for binding to the linear KIM sequences and MAPK phosphatases [16,39]
Summary
Environmental changes due to anthropogenic pollution continuously cause potential threats to the health of marine organisms and these changes can lead to the accumulation of chemical toxicity in the benthos and sediment ecosystem. Increasing studies have reported that activations of p38 MAPK can be triggered by various extracellular stressors, including viral infections, environmental stress, and UV irradiation [16,21,22,23,24]. M. japonicus, and its role in response to environmental stressors, such as PFOS, irgarol, DEHP, and BPA, were investigated via the gills and hepatopancreas of M. japonicus. The results suggested potential activation of M. japonicus p38 MAPKs as a defense immune response against exposure toxicities to environmental pollutants
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