Hiat1 as a new transporter involved in ammonia regulation

The role of the antennal glands and gills in acid-base regulation and ammonia excretion of a marine osmoconforming brachyuran

The excretory mechanisms of stenohaline marine osmoconforming crabs are often compared to those of the more extensively characterized euryhaline osmoregulating crabs. These comparisons may have limitations, given that unlike euryhaline brachyurans the gills of stenohaline marine osmoconformers possess ion-leaky paracellular pathways and lack the capacity to undergo ultrastructural changes that can promote ion-transport processes in dilute media. Furthermore, the antennal glands of stenohaline marine osmoconformers are poorly characterized making it difficult to determine what role urinary processes play in excretion. In the presented study, ammonia excretory processes as well as related acid-base equivalent transport rates and mechanisms were investigated in the Dungeness crab, Metacarcinus magister - an economically valuable stenohaline marine osmoconforming crab. Isolated and perfused gills were found to predominantly eliminate ammonia through a microtubule network-dependent active NH4+ transport mechanism that is likely performed by cells lining the arterial pockets of the gill lamella where critical Na+/K+-ATPase detection was observed. The V-type H+-ATPase - a vital component to transbranchial ammonia excretion mechanisms of euryhaline crabs - was not found to contribute significantly to ammonia excretion; however, this may be due to the transporter's unexpected apical localization. Although unconnected to ammonia excretion rates, a membrane-bound isoform of carbonic anhydrase was localized to the apical and basolateral membranes of lamella suited for respiration. Urine was found to contain significantly less ammonia as well as carbonate species than the hemolymph, indicating that unlike those of some euryhaline crabs the antennal glands of the Dungeness crab reabsorb these molecules rather than eliminate them for excretion.

Branchial CO2 and ammonia excretion in crustaceans: Involvement of an apical Rhesus-like glycoprotein

AIM

To determine whether the crustacean Rh1 protein functions as a dual CO2 /ammonia transporter and investigate its role in branchial ammonia excretion and acid-base regulation.

METHODS

Sequence analysis of decapod Rh1 proteins was used to determine the conservation of amino acid residues putatively involved in ammonia transport and CO2 binding in human and bacterial Rh proteins. Using the Carcinus maenas Rh1 protein (CmRh1) as a representative of decapod Rh1 proteins, we test the ammonia and CO2 transport capabilities of CmRh1 through heterologous expression in yeast and Xenopus oocytes coupled with site-directed mutagenesis. Quantitative PCR was used to assess the distribution of CmRh1 mRNA in various tissues. Western blotting was used to assess CmRh1 protein expression changes in response to high environmental ammonia and CO2 . Further, immunohistochemistry was used to assess sub-cellular localization of CmRh1 and a membrane-bound carbonic anhydrase (CmCAg).

RESULTS

Sequence analysis of decapod Rh proteins revealed high conservation of several amino acid residues putatively involved in conducting ammonia transport and CO2 binding. Expression of CmRh1 in Xenopus oocytes enhanced both ammonia and CO2 transport which was nullified in CmRh1 D180N mutant oocytes. Transport of the ammonia analog methylamine by CmRh1 is dependent on both ionized and un-ionized ammonia/methylamine species. CmRh1 was co-localized with CmCAg to the apical membrane of the crustacean gill and only experienced decreased protein expression in the anterior gills when exposed to high environmental ammonia.

CONCLUSION

CmRh1 is the first identified apical transporter-mediated route for ammonia and CO2 excretion in the crustacean gill. Our findings shed further light on the potential universality of dual ammonia and CO2 transport capacity of Rhesus glycoproteins in both vertebrates and invertebrates.

The role of octopamine and crustacean hyperglycemic hormone (CHH) in branchial acid-base regulation in the European green crab, Carcinus maenas

Crustaceans' endocrinology is a vastly understudied area of research. The major focus of the studies on this topic to date has been on the molting cycle (and in particular, the role of crustacean hyperglycemic hormone (CHH)), as well as the role of other hormones in facilitating physiological phenotypic adjustments to salinity changes. Additionally, while many recent studies have been conducted on the acclimation and adaptation capacity of crustaceans to a changing environment, only few have investigated internal hormonal balance especially with respect to an endocrine response to environmental challenges. Consequently, our study aimed to identify and characterize endocrine components of acid-base regulation in the European green crab, Carcinus maenas. We show that both the biogenic amine octopamine (OCT) and the CHH are regulatory components of branchial acid-base regulation. While OCT suppressed branchial proton excretion, CHH seemed to promote it. Both hormones were also capable of enhancing branchial ammonia excretion. Furthermore, mRNA abundance for branchial receptors (OCT-R), or G-protein receptor activated soluble guanylate cyclase (sGC1b), are affected by environmental change such as elevated pCO2 (hypercapnia) and high environmental ammonia (HEA). Our findings support a role for both OCT and CHH in the general maintenance of steady-state acid-base maintenance in the gill, as well as regulating the acid-base response to environmental challenges that C. maenas encounters on a regular basis in the habitats it dwells in and more so in the future ocean.