Comparative proteomic analysis of two clam species: Chamelea gallina and Tapes philippinarum

Clam peptides: Preparation, flavor properties, health benefits, and safety risks

Bioactive peptides derived from food proteins have attracted attention for their potential roles in functional foods and pharmaceuticals. Clams, renowned for their protein content and essential amino acids critical to human health, represent a promising source for bioactive peptide production. Recent studies have extensively explored the preparation methods, flavor profiles, and health benefits of clam peptides (CPs). However, there is still a lack of a comprehensive review on the current status of CPs development. This review revealed that enzymatic hydrolysis is the predominant methods for CPs production, which is a potential resource for discovering umami peptides. CPs exhibit diverse bioactivities, including antioxidative, antibacterial, ACE inhibitory, immunomodulatory, and anticancer activities. However, the potential presence of heavy metals, pathogenic bacteria, and allergens in raw materials underscores the need for stringent safety evaluations. In the future, production technology, in vivo fate, health efficacy mechanisms and safety will be interesting directions for CPs research.

Stability and expression patterns of housekeeping genes in Mediterranean mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis) under field investigations

The use of marine mussels as biological models encompasses a broad range of research fields, in which the application of RNA analyses disclosed novel biomarkers of environmental stress and investigated biochemical mechanisms of action. Quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) is the gold standard for these studies, and despite its wide use and available protocols, it may be affected by technical flaws requiring reference gene data normalization. In this study, stability of housekeeping genes commonly employed as reference genes in qPCR analyses with Mytilus galloprovincialis was explored under field conditions. Mussels were collected from farms in the Northwestern Adriatic Sea. The sampling strategy considered latitudinal gradients of environmental parameters (proxied by location), gender, and their interactions with seasonality. Analyses of gene stability were performed using different algorithms. BestKeeper and geNorm agreed that combination of the ribosomal genes 18S ribosomal RNA (18S) and 28S ribosomal RNA (28S) was the best normalization strategy in the conditions tested, which agrees with available evidence. NormFinder provided different normalization strategies, involving combinations of tubulin (TUB)/28S (Gender/Season effect) or TUB/helicase (HEL) (Location/Season effect). Since NormFinder considers data grouping and computes both intra- and inter-group stability variations, it should work better with complex experimental designs and dataset structuring. Under the selected normalization strategies, expressions of the variable housekeeping genes actin (ACT) and elongation factor-1α (EF1) correlated with seasonal and latitudinal changes of abiotic environmental factors and mussel physiological status. Results point to consider ACT and EF1 expressions as molecular biomarkers of mussel general physiological status in field studies.

Clinicopathological and Fecal Proteome Evaluations in 16 Dogs Presenting Chronic Diarrhea Associated with Lymphangiectasia

Canine intestinal lymphangiectasia (IL) is a condition characterized by variably severe gastrointestinal signs, frequently associated with laboratory abnormalities; the research for markers allowing a better understanding of the severity degree and/or obtaining an early diagnosis and/or monitoring is continuously progressing. In the present study, we investigated possible new diagnostic/follow-up markers in IL dogs, namely, serum C-reactive protein, serum bacterial lipopolysaccharide, serum cleaved cytokeratin 18, serum citrulline, and zonulin (in both serum and feces). A fecal proteomic study looking for possible confirmation and/or new marker candidates was also performed. All markers in both substrates, with the exception of serum citrulline, significantly differed between diseased and control dogs. Fecal proteomics allowed the retrieval of three proteins in IL dogs (Fc fragment of IgG-binding protein; transthyretin; proproteinase E) that were not previously found in clinically healthy subjects. Although further studies are needed, C-reactive protein, bacterial lipopolysaccharide, cleaved cytokeratin 18, and zonulin (in both serum and feces) resulted as promising markers for canine IL; similarly, fecal proteomics represents a road worthy of being pursued in the search for candidate biomarkers.

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) Proves that Manila Clam Farming (Ruditapes Philippinarum) is a Fully Sustainable Aquaculture Practice and a Carbon Sink

Manila clam (Ruditapes philippinarum, Adams and Reeve, 1850) farming is a quantitatively important and valuable form of aquaculture production worldwide but, to our best knowledge, no life cycle assessments (LCA) have been undertaken on it. However, being a filter feeder and producing a thick shell during the growing cycle, the capacity of Manila clam to remove nutrients, carbon, nitrogen and phosphorous from the marine environment potentially has some positive effects on the environment. This study was performed in the Sacca di Goro lagoon, located in the southernmost part of the Po River Delta, in the northwestern Adriatic Sea. The LCA of clam farming from a cradle-to-gate perspective have been carried out, including the production stages as seed procuring, sowing, harvesting, depuration and packaging to obtain 1 ton of fresh ready-to-sell clams. The results show that area preparation, fuel combustion and plastic bags were the main contributors to the environmental impacts. The potential capability as a carbon sink of 1 ton of clams has been calculated and the effects on eutrophication reduction by fixing nitrogen and phosphorous in shells, with a net sequestration of 444.55 kg of CO2, 1.54 kg of N and 0.31 kg of P per year.

Species identification of Bombyx mori and Antheraea pernyi silk via immunology and proteomics

In recent years, increasing attention has been paid to the origin, transmission and communication of silk. However, this is still an unsolved mystery in archaeology. The identification of silk-producing species, especially silk produced by Bombyx mori (B. mori) and Antheraea pernyi (A. pernyi), is of key significance to address this challenge. In this study, two innovative methods, i.e. immunology and proteomics, were proposed and successfully established for the species identification of silks. ELISAs result demonstrated that the two prepared antibodies exhibited high sensitivity and specificity in distinguishing B. mori and A. pernyi silk. No cross-reactivity with each other was observed. Moreover, biomarkers were obtained for Bombyx and Antheraea through proteomic analysis. It was also confirmed that the biomarkers were suitable for identifying the species that produced a given silk sample. Compared with conventional methods for distinguishing silk species, immunological and proteomics techniques used in tandem can provide intact information and have the potential to provide accurate and reliable information for species identification.

Fecal Proteomic Analysis in Healthy Dogs and in Dogs Suffering from Food Responsive Diarrhea

Different laboratory markers are routinely used in the diagnosis and management of gastrointestinal (GI) disease in dogs. In the present study, starting from feces from both healthy dogs and dogs suffering from food responsive diarrhea (FRD), we tried to find proteins differently expressed in the two groups of dogs, by using a proteomic approach. Interestingly, we found that the immunoglobulin J-chain isoform 1 (species: Canis lupus familiaris) was identified only in diseased dogs (not in healthy). J-chain combines especially IgA monomers to IgA dimers and plays a crucial role for their secretions into mucosal interface. Being the first study of that kind in the dog, it is only possible to hypothesize that their presence could be likely due to an increased activation of the immune system or to a mucosal damage or both in FRD patients. Similarly, it is still impossible to assess whether this protein could be used as diagnostic/prognostic marker of GI disease; however, this study represents a promising first step toward fecal proteomics in canine GI disorders.