Project description:Sea spray aerosols (SSAs) have profound effects on our climate and ecosystems. They also contain microbiota and biogenic molecules which could affect human health. Yet the exposure and effects of SSAs on human health remain poorly studied. Here, we exposed human lung cancer cells to extracts of a natural sea spray aerosol collected at the seashore in Belgium, a laboratory-generated SSA, the marine algal toxin homoyessotoxin and a chemical inhibitor of the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway. We observed significant increased expression of genes related to the mTOR pathway and Proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) after exposure to homoyessotoxin and the laboratory-generated SSA. In contrast, we observed a significant decrease in gene expression in the mTOR pathway and of PCSK9 after exposure to the natural SSA and the mTOR inhibitor, suggesting induction of apoptosis. Our results indicate that marine biogenics in SSAs interact with PCSK9 and the mTOR pathway and can be used in new potential pharmaceutical applications. Overall, our results provide a substantial molecular evidence base for potential beneficial health effects at environmentally relevant concentrations of natural SSAs.
Project description:Since 1998, California sea lion stranding events associated with domoic acid toxicosis (DAT) have consistently increased and there are no practical non-lethal clinical tests for the diagnosis of domoic acid toxicosis that can be utilized in a large-scale rehabilitation facility. Proteomic analysis was conducted to discover candidate protein markers of DAT using cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from stranded sea lions with acute DAT, chronic DAT, or without DAT. A total of 2005 protein families were identified across 40 CSF samples (FDR<0.01) using the annotated California sea lion genome. Of these proteins, 83 were significantly different in abundance across the three groups (p<0.05). Comparisons between all sea lions with DAT versus those without DAT indicated that 119 proteins were significantly different between both groups (p<0.05); whereas, 47 proteins were significantly different between acute DAT and chronic DAT (p<0.05). Significant proteins were assessed as classifiers using ROC curves. Compared to sea lions with non-DAT, those with either acute or chronic DAT displayed higher levels of 14-3-3 proteins and malate dehydrogenase, and lower levels of 5’-3’ exonuclease PLD3, neurosecretory protein VGF, disintegrin and metalloproteinase domain-containing protein, and calsyntenin-1. When comparing acute DAT versus chronic DAT, 4 proteins were identified as good classifiers. Elevated levels of beta-synuclein was detected in acute DAT, and was identified as a high classifier for both comparisons. Many of these proteins have been implicated in a variety of neurodegenerative diseases. These proteins should be considered potential markers for DAT in California sea lions, as well as markers to discriminate between acute or chronic DAT, and should be considered priority for future validation studies as biomarkers.
Project description:In this study we assessed the utility of a microarray to identify changes in gene expression predictive of health status by interrogating blood samples from California sea lions in rehabilitation.
Project description:In this study, we analyzed both together the epithelial tissue and the secreted mucus response using a holistic interactome-based multi-omics approach. The effect of the gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata) skin mucosa to a dietary inclusion of spray-dried porcine plasma (SDPP) was evaluated.
Project description:In this study we assessed the utility of a microarray to identify changes in gene expression predictive of health status by interrogating blood samples from California sea lions in rehabilitation. 73 California sea lion blood samples. 28 Females and 45 males. Animals were divided into 4 groups based on preliminary diagnosis at the rehabilitation center: domoic acid toxicosis (n=33, DAT), Leptospirosis infection (n=24, Lepto), control (n=4, Healthy) and other diseases (n=12, Outgroup).
Project description:This submission contains datasets from several species used to demonstrate new features in compareMS2 2.0. Tandem mass spectrometry data from California sea lion, chimpanzee, dog, human, rock hyrax, and white-tailed deer sera were graciously provided with permission from an ongoing collaboration with Dr. Michael G. Janech (College of Charleston) as part of the CoMPARe Program (Comparative Mammalian Proteome Aggregator Resource). Specifically, the California sea lion sera were provided by The Marine Mammal Center (Sausalito, CA), the chimpanzee, rock hyrax, and white-tailed deer sera were provided by The Chattanooga Zoo, and the dog serum from Gus (Ohlandt Veterinary Clinic, Charleston, SC). In addition to institutional and NMFS permits and approval, data collection was performed under NIST ACUC MML-AR20-0001. The identification of certain commercial equipment, instruments, software, or materials does not imply recommendation or endorsement by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, nor does it imply that the products identified are necessarily the best available for the purpose.
Project description:We conducted a pilot label-free LC-MS/MS study to profile and compare the cerebral spinal fluid from California sea lions with domoic acid toxicosis and without domoic acid toxicosis. CSF samples from a 8 animals with DAT and 3 controls were run on a nano LC-MS/MS (Triple TOF) and searched against a mammalian database.
Project description:Smoking cigarettes is harmful to the cardiovascular system. Considerable attention has been paid to the reduced harm potential of alternative nicotine-containing inhalable products such as e-cigarettes. We investigated the effects of E-vapor aerosols or cigarette smoke (CS) on atherosclerosis progression, cardiovascular function, and molecular changes in the heart and aorta of female ApoE−/− mice. The mice were exposed to aerosols from three different E-vapor formulations: (1) carrier (propylene glycol and vegetable glycerol), (2) base (carrier and nicotine) or (3) test (base and flavor) or to CS from 3R4F reference cigarettes for up to 6 months. Concentrations of CS and base or test aerosols were matched at 35 µg nicotine/L. Exposure to CS, compared with sham-exposed fresh air controls, accelerated atherosclerotic plaque formation, while no such effect was seen for any of the three E-vapor aerosols. Molecular changes indicated disease mechanisms related to oxidative stress and inflammation in general, plus changes in calcium regulation, and altered cytoskeletal organization and microtubule dynamics in the left ventricle. While ejection fraction, fractional shortening, cardiac output, and isovolumic contraction time remained unchanged following E-vapor aerosols exposure, the nicotine-containing base and test aerosols caused an increase in isovolumic relaxation time similar to CS. A nicotine-related increase in pulse wave velocity and arterial stiffness was also observed, but it was significantly lower for base and test aerosols than for CS. These results demonstrate that in comparison with CS, E-vapor aerosols induce substantially lower biological responses associated with smoking-related cardiovascular diseases.