Department of Veterinary Biomedical Sciences, University of Saskatchewan, 44 Campus Drive, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7N 5B3, Canada.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Ocean Service, Center for Coastal Environmental Health & Biomolecular Research, 219 Fort Johnson Road, Charleston, SC 29412, United States of America; Department of Public Health Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina, 221 Fort Johnson Road, Charleston, SC 29412, United States of America.
Comp Biochem Physiol Part D Genomics Proteomics. 2019 Dec;32:100613. doi: 10.1016/j.cbd.2019.100613. Epub 2019 Jul 26.
Natural and anthropogenic stressors have been reported to impact the health of marine mammals. Therefore, investigation of quantifiable biomarkers in response to stressors is required. We hypothesized that stress protein expression would be associated with biological and health variables in wild and managed-care bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus). To test this hypothesis, our study objectives were to (1) determine if stress proteins in skin, white blood cells (WBCs), and plasma could be measured with an antibody-based microarray, (2) measure stress-protein expression relative to biological data (location, sex, age, environment), and (3) determine if stress-protein expression was associated with endocrine, hematological, biochemical and serological variables and gene expression in bottlenose dolphins. Samples were collected from two wild groups (n = 28) and two managed-care groups (n = 17). Proteins involved in the HPA axis, apoptosis, proteotoxicity, and inflammation were identified as stress proteins. The expression of 3 out of 33 proteins was significantly (P < 0.05) greater in skin than plasma and WBCs. Male dolphins had significantly greater expression levels for 10 proteins in skin compared to females. The greatest number of stress-associated proteins varied by the dolphins' environment; nine were greater in managed-care dolphins and 15 were greater in wild dolphins, which may be related to wild dolphin disease status. Protein expression in skin and WBCs showed many positive relationships with measures of plasma endocrinology and biochemistry. This study provides further understanding of the underlying mechanisms of the stress response in bottlenose dolphins and application of a combination of novel methods to measure stress in wildlife.
自然和人为压力源已被报道会影响海洋哺乳动物的健康。因此，需要研究可量化的生物标志物来应对这些压力源。我们假设应激蛋白的表达与野生和管理护理的宽吻海豚（Tursiops truncatus）的生物学和健康变量有关。为了验证这一假设，我们的研究目的是：(1) 确定是否可以使用基于抗体的微阵列测量皮肤、白细胞 (WBC) 和血浆中的应激蛋白；(2) 测量应激蛋白表达与生物学数据（位置、性别、年龄、环境）的相关性；(3) 确定应激蛋白表达与内分泌、血液学、生化和血清学变量以及宽吻海豚基因表达的相关性。从两个野生群体（n=28）和两个管理护理群体（n=17）中收集样本。鉴定出参与 HPA 轴、细胞凋亡、蛋白毒性和炎症的蛋白质为应激蛋白。在 33 种蛋白质中，有 3 种在皮肤中的表达明显（P<0.05）高于血浆和 WBC。与雌性相比，雄性海豚皮肤中 10 种蛋白质的表达水平显著更高。与环境有关的应激相关蛋白质数量最多的是管理护理海豚，有 9 种，野生海豚有 15 种，这可能与野生海豚的疾病状况有关。皮肤和 WBC 中的蛋白质表达与血浆内分泌和生化指标呈正相关。本研究进一步了解了宽吻海豚应激反应的潜在机制，并应用了一系列新方法来测量野生动物的应激。
