Elevated antioxidant defence in the brain of deep-diving pinnipeds
While foraging, marine mammals undertake repetitive diving bouts. When the animal surfaces, reperfusion makes oxygen readily available for the electron transport chain, which leads to increased production of reactive oxygen species and risk of oxidative damage. In blood and several tissues, such as...
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crfrontiers:10.3389/fphys.2022.1064476 2024-02-11T10:03:18+01:00 Elevated antioxidant defence in the brain of deep-diving pinnipeds Martens, Gerrit A. Folkow, Lars P. Burmester, Thorsten Geßner, Cornelia 2022 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2022.1064476 https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphys.2022.1064476/full unknown Frontiers Media SA https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Frontiers in Physiology volume 13 ISSN 1664-042X Physiology (medical) Physiology journal-article 2022 crfrontiers https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2022.1064476 2024-01-26T09:55:46Z While foraging, marine mammals undertake repetitive diving bouts. When the animal surfaces, reperfusion makes oxygen readily available for the electron transport chain, which leads to increased production of reactive oxygen species and risk of oxidative damage. In blood and several tissues, such as heart, lung, muscle and kidney, marine mammals generally exhibit an elevated antioxidant defence. However, the brain, whose functional integrity is critical to survival, has received little attention. We previously observed an enhanced expression of several antioxidant genes in cortical neurons of hooded seals ( Cystophora cristata ). Here, we studied antioxidant gene expression and enzymatic activity in the visual cortex, cerebellum and hippocampus of harp seals ( Pagophilus groenlandicus ) and hooded seals. Moreover, we tested several genes for positive selection. We found that antioxidants in the first line of defence, such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPX) and glutathione (GSH) were constitutively enhanced in the seal brain compared to mice ( Mus musculus ), whereas the glutaredoxin and thioredoxin systems were not. Possibly, the activity of the latter systems is stress-induced rather than constitutively elevated. Further, some, but not all members, of the glutathione-s-transferase (GST) family appear more highly expressed. We found no signatures of positive selection, indicating that sequence and function of the studied antioxidants are conserved in pinnipeds. Article in Journal/Newspaper Cystophora cristata Pagophilus groenlandicus Frontiers (Publisher) Frontiers in Physiology 13 |
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Physiology (medical) Physiology |
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Physiology (medical) Physiology Martens, Gerrit A. Folkow, Lars P. Burmester, Thorsten Geßner, Cornelia Elevated antioxidant defence in the brain of deep-diving pinnipeds |
topic_facet |
Physiology (medical) Physiology |
description |
While foraging, marine mammals undertake repetitive diving bouts. When the animal surfaces, reperfusion makes oxygen readily available for the electron transport chain, which leads to increased production of reactive oxygen species and risk of oxidative damage. In blood and several tissues, such as heart, lung, muscle and kidney, marine mammals generally exhibit an elevated antioxidant defence. However, the brain, whose functional integrity is critical to survival, has received little attention. We previously observed an enhanced expression of several antioxidant genes in cortical neurons of hooded seals ( Cystophora cristata ). Here, we studied antioxidant gene expression and enzymatic activity in the visual cortex, cerebellum and hippocampus of harp seals ( Pagophilus groenlandicus ) and hooded seals. Moreover, we tested several genes for positive selection. We found that antioxidants in the first line of defence, such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPX) and glutathione (GSH) were constitutively enhanced in the seal brain compared to mice ( Mus musculus ), whereas the glutaredoxin and thioredoxin systems were not. Possibly, the activity of the latter systems is stress-induced rather than constitutively elevated. Further, some, but not all members, of the glutathione-s-transferase (GST) family appear more highly expressed. We found no signatures of positive selection, indicating that sequence and function of the studied antioxidants are conserved in pinnipeds. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Martens, Gerrit A. Folkow, Lars P. Burmester, Thorsten Geßner, Cornelia |
author_facet |
Martens, Gerrit A. Folkow, Lars P. Burmester, Thorsten Geßner, Cornelia |
author_sort |
Martens, Gerrit A. |
title |
Elevated antioxidant defence in the brain of deep-diving pinnipeds |
title_short |
Elevated antioxidant defence in the brain of deep-diving pinnipeds |
title_full |
Elevated antioxidant defence in the brain of deep-diving pinnipeds |
title_fullStr |
Elevated antioxidant defence in the brain of deep-diving pinnipeds |
title_full_unstemmed |
Elevated antioxidant defence in the brain of deep-diving pinnipeds |
title_sort |
elevated antioxidant defence in the brain of deep-diving pinnipeds |
publisher |
Frontiers Media SA |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2022.1064476 https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphys.2022.1064476/full |
genre |
Cystophora cristata Pagophilus groenlandicus |
genre_facet |
Cystophora cristata Pagophilus groenlandicus |
op_source |
Frontiers in Physiology volume 13 ISSN 1664-042X |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2022.1064476 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Physiology |
container_volume |
13 |
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1790599514034274304 |