KAUST Global Partnership Program, Department of Biology/Atmospheric, Marine and Coastal Environment Program, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong SAR, China.
Proteome Sci. 2009 Dec 14;7:44. doi: 10.1186/1477-5956-7-44.
While the larval-juvenile transition (metamorphosis) in the spionid polychaete Pseudopolydora vexillosa involves gradual morphological changes and does not require substantial development of juvenile organs, the opposite occurs in the barnacle Balanus amphitrite. We hypothesized that the proteome changes during metamorphosis in the spionids are less drastic than that in the barnacles. To test this, proteomes of pre-competent larvae, competent larvae (ready to metamorphose), and juveniles of P. vexillosa were compared using 2-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE), and they were then compared to those of the barnacle.
Unlike the significant changes found during barnacle metamorphosis, proteomes of competent P. vexillosa larvae were more similar to those of their juveniles. Pre-competent larvae had significantly fewer protein spots (384 spots), while both competent larvae and juveniles expressed about 660 protein spots each. Proteins up-regulated during competence identified by MALDI-TOF/TOF analysis included a molecular chaperon (calreticulin), a signal transduction regulator (tyrosin activation protein), and a tissue-remodeling enzyme (metallopeptidase).
This was the first time to study the protein expression patterns during the metamorphosis of a marine polychaete and to compare the proteomes of marine invertebrates that have different levels of morphological changes during metamorphosis. The findings provide promising initial steps towards the development of a proteome database for marine invertebrate metamorphosis, thus deciphering the possible mechanisms underlying larval metamorphosis in non-model marine organisms.
尽管 spionid 多毛类动物 Pseudopolydora vexillosa 的幼虫-幼体过渡（变态）涉及逐渐的形态变化，并且不需要幼体器官的大量发育，但在藤壶 Balanus amphitrite 中则相反。我们假设 spionids 变态过程中的蛋白质组变化没有藤壶那么剧烈。为了验证这一点，使用二维凝胶电泳（2-DE）比较了有能力的幼虫（准备变态）和 P. vexillosa 幼体的前有能力幼虫的蛋白质组，然后将它们与藤壶的蛋白质组进行比较。
与在藤壶变态过程中发现的显著变化不同，有能力的 P. vexillosa 幼虫的蛋白质组与其幼体更为相似。前有能力幼虫的蛋白质斑点明显较少（384 个斑点），而有能力幼虫和幼体各自表达约 660 个蛋白质斑点。通过 MALDI-TOF/TOF 分析鉴定的在有能力时上调的蛋白质包括分子伴侣（钙网蛋白）、信号转导调节剂（酪氨酸激活蛋白）和组织重塑酶（金属肽酶）。
这是首次研究海洋多毛类动物变态过程中的蛋白质表达模式，并比较了在变态过程中具有不同形态变化水平的海洋无脊椎动物的蛋白质组。这些发现为开发海洋无脊椎动物变态的蛋白质组数据库提供了有希望的初步步骤，从而揭示了非模式海洋生物中幼虫变态的可能机制。
