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Aquatic Organisms as Disease Models, Sources of Therapeutics, and Pollution Markers

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A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Pathology, Diagnostics, and Therapeutics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2022) | Viewed by 9355

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Jacek Z. Kubiak

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Guest Editor

Dynamics and Mechanics of Epithelia Group, Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Genetics and Development of Rennes, University of Rennes, CNRS, UMR 6290, 35043 Rennes, France
Interests: embryo development; cell cycle; gene regulation; cancer; stem cells; gonads; genetic diseases
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. Malgorzata Kloc

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Guest Editor

Transplant Immunology, The Houston Methodist Research Institute, Houston, TX 77030, USA
Interests: macrophages; actin cytoskeleton; RhoA pathway; chronic rejection; transplantation; germ cells; stem cells; Xenopus laevis; development
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Aquatic organisms are an irreplaceable source of medicinal drugs and therapeutics, a perfect model system and indicator for many human diseases, and often also a source of remedy for environmental pollutants. To mention a few examples: for several decades the African-clawed frog Xenopus laevis has been used for human pregnancy tests. Between the 1940s and 1960s, thousands of frogs were imported to the USA by pharmaceutical companies and injected with pregnant women’s urine. Xenopus frogs are the perfect human ciliary-based model for kidney disease, and the Xenopus sex reversal is an excellent indicator of water contamination with endocrine disruptors that mimic human sex hormones and are present in the majority of cosmetics and everyday products. Zebrafish and squid eyes are a model for human ocular diseases, such as glaucoma, cataracts, photoreceptor degeneration, and cornea and retina disorders. The Atlantic horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus) blue blood has been the source of Limulus amebocyte lysate (LAL) used to test bacterial contamination of vaccines and medical equipment. Over the past 30 years, scientists have identified over 20,000 new biochemical compounds from aquatic organisms, and dozens have been tested in clinical trials. Cytarabine and Vidarabine, isolated from the Caribbean sponges, are used for the treatment of leukemia and lymphoma, and systematic herpes virus infection, respectively. Ziconotide, a powerful analgesic drug, was isolated from the cone snail and Trabectedin (Yondelis); a marine alkaloid, isolated from the tunicate, is used for the treatment of advanced soft-tissue sarcoma and ovarian cancer. GoJelly, a European Union project, investigates the properties of the jellyfish, including its mucus, which can be used as a biofilter to adsorb and remove micro and nano plastics from the water.

For this Special Issue, we invite research and review articles on the recent progress in aquatic organisms as a source of medication, models for human diseases, markers of environmental pollutants, and, finally, as a source of anti-pollutant compounds.

Prof. Dr. Jacek Z Kubiak
Prof. Dr. Malgorzata Kloc
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Molecular Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. There is an Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal. For details about the APC please see here. Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

aquatic organism
human disease model
environmental pollutants
novel drugs

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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24 pages, 4820 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Focal Impact Model of Traumatic Brain Injury in Xenopus Tadpoles Reveals Behavioral Alterations, Neuroinflammation, and an Astroglial Response

by Sydnee L. Spruiell Eldridge, Jonathan F. K. Teetsel, Ray A. Torres, Christina H. Ulrich, Vrutant V. Shah, Devanshi Singh, Melissa J. Zamora, Steven Zamora and Amy K. Sater

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2022, 23(14), 7578; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijms23147578 - 08 Jul 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2195

Abstract

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is a global driver of disability, and we currently lack effective therapies to promote neural repair and recovery. TBI is characterized by an initial insult, followed by a secondary injury cascade, including inflammation, excitotoxicity, and glial cellular response. This cascade incorporates molecular mechanisms that represent potential targets of therapeutic intervention. In this study, we investigate the response to focal impact injury to the optic tectum of Xenopus laevis tadpoles. This injury disrupts the blood-brain barrier, causing edema, and produces deficits in visually-driven behaviors which are resolved within one week. Within 3 h, injured brains show a dramatic transcriptional activation of inflammatory cytokines, upregulation of genes associated with inflammation, and recruitment of microglia to the injury site and surrounding tissue. Shortly afterward, astrocytes undergo morphological alterations and accumulate near the injury site, and these changes persist for at least 48 h following injury. Genes associated with astrocyte reactivity and neuroprotective functions also show elevated levels of expression following injury. Since our results demonstrate that the response to focal impact injury in Xenopus resembles the cellular alterations observed in rodents and other mammalian models, the Xenopus tadpole offers a new, scalable vertebrate model for TBI. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Aquatic Organisms as Disease Models, Sources of Therapeutics, and Pollution Markers)

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9 pages, 1381 KiB

Open AccessCommunication

Short-Term Exposure Effects of the Environmental Endocrine Disruptor Benzo(a)Pyrene on Thyroid Axis Function in Zebrafish

by Giuditta Rurale, Ilaria Gentile, Camilla Carbonero, Luca Persani and Federica Marelli

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2022, 23(10), 5833; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijms23105833 - 23 May 2022

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 1722

Abstract

Benzo(a)Pyrene (BaP) is one of the most widespread polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) with endocrine disrupting properties and carcinogenic effects. In the present study, we tested the effect of BaP on thyroid development and function, using zebrafish as a model system. Zebrafish embryos were treated with 50 nM BaP from 2.5 to 72 h post fertilization (hpf) and compared to 1.2% DMSO controls. The expression profiles of markers of thyroid primordium specification, thyroid hormone (TH) synthesis, hypothalamus-pituitary-thyroid (HPT) axis, TH transport and metabolism, and TH action were analyzed in pools of treated and control embryos at different developmental stages. BaP treatment did not affect early markers of thyroid differentiation but resulted in a significant decrease of markers of TH synthesis (tg and nis) likely secondary to defective expression of the central stimulatory hormones of thyroid axis (trh, tshba) and of TH metabolism (dio2). Consequently, immunofluorescence of BaP treated larvae showed a low number of follicles immunoreactive to T4. In conclusion, our results revealed that the short-term exposure to BaP significantly affects thyroid function in zebrafish, but the primary toxic effects would be exerted at the hypothalamic-pituitary level thus creating a model of central hypothyroidism. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Aquatic Organisms as Disease Models, Sources of Therapeutics, and Pollution Markers)

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15 pages, 5343 KiB

Open AccessCommunication

CNPase, a 2′,3′-Cyclic-nucleotide 3′-phosphodiesterase, as a Therapeutic Target to Attenuate Cardiac Hypertrophy by Enhancing Mitochondrial Energy Production

by Keai Sinn Tan, Dongfang Wang, Ziqiang Lu, Yihan Zhang, Sixu Li, Yue Lin and Wen Tan

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2021, 22(19), 10806; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijms221910806 - 06 Oct 2021

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2312

Abstract

Heart failure is the end-stage of all cardiovascular diseases with a ~25% 5-year survival rate, and insufficient mitochondrial energy production to meet myocardial demand is the hallmark of heart failure. Mitochondrial components involved in the regulation of ATP production remain to be fully elucidated. Recently, roles of 2′,3′-cyclic nucleotide-3′-phosphodiesterase (CNPase) in the pathophysiological processes of heart diseases have emerged, implicated by evidence that mitochondrial CNPase proteins are associated with mitochondrial integrity under metabolic stress. In this study, a zebrafish heart failure model was established, by employing antisense morpholino oligonucleotides and the CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing system, which recapitulates heart failure phenotypes including heart dysfunction, pericardial edema, ventricular enlargement, bradycardia, and premature death. The translational implications of CNPase in the pathophysiological process of heart failure were tested in a pressure overload-induced heart hypertrophy model, which was carried out in rats through transverse abdominal aorta constriction (TAAC). AAV9-mediated myocardial delivery of CNPase mitigated the hypertrophic response through the specific hydrolysis of 2′-3′-cyclic nucleotides, supported by the decrease of cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis, the integrity of mitochondrial ultrastructure, and indicators of heart contractility in the AAV9-TAAC group. Finally, the biometrics of a mitochondrial respiration assay carried out on a Seahorse cellular energy analyzer demonstrated that CNPase protects mitochondrial respiration and ATP production from AngII-induced metabolic stress. In summary, this study provides mechanistic insights into CNPase-2′,3′-cyclic nucleotide metabolism that protects the heart from energy starvation and suggests novel therapeutic approaches to treat heart failure by targeting CNPase activity. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Aquatic Organisms as Disease Models, Sources of Therapeutics, and Pollution Markers)

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Review

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17 pages, 852 KiB

Open AccessReview

Aquatic Freshwater Vertebrate Models of Epilepsy Pathology: Past Discoveries and Future Directions for Therapeutic Discovery

by Rachel E. Williams and Karen Mruk

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2022, 23(15), 8608; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijms23158608 - 03 Aug 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1853

Abstract

Epilepsy is an international public health concern that greatly affects patients’ health and lifestyle. About 30% of patients do not respond to available therapies, making new research models important for further drug discovery. Aquatic vertebrates present a promising avenue for improved seizure drug screening and discovery. Zebrafish (Danio rerio) and African clawed frogs (Xenopus laevis and tropicalis) are increasing in popularity for seizure research due to their cost-effective housing and rearing, similar genome to humans, ease of genetic manipulation, and simplicity of drug dosing. These organisms have demonstrated utility in a variety of seizure-induction models including chemical and genetic methods. Past studies with these methods have produced promising data and generated questions for further applications of these models to promote discovery of drug-resistant seizure pathology and lead to effective treatments for these patients. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Aquatic Organisms as Disease Models, Sources of Therapeutics, and Pollution Markers)

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