Key Laboratory of Applied Marine Biotechnology, School of Marine Sciences, Ningbo University, Ningbo, Zhejiang Province 315211, PR China.
Key Laboratory of Applied Marine Biotechnology, School of Marine Sciences, Ningbo University, Ningbo, Zhejiang Province 315211, PR China.
Comp Biochem Physiol Part D Genomics Proteomics. 2021 Jun;38:100829. doi: 10.1016/j.cbd.2021.100829. Epub 2021 Mar 27.
Inking is part of a defensive stress response in cephalopods (cuttlefish, squid, and octopus). Some individual cuttlefish (Sepia pharaonis) die after continued stress and inking; however, the physiological effects of cephalopods in response to stress and inking remain unknown. The present study investigated the metabolic profile and discussed the physiological roles of S. pharaonis tissues in response to continuous inking using the H NMR spectroscopy coupled with multivariate data analysis. A total of 50 metabolites, including amino acids, organic osmolytes, nucleotides, energy storage compounds, and obvious tissue-specific metabolites induced by inking stress, were identified in S. pharaonis tissues. Exposure to inking stress had different effects on the levels of the studied metabolites, for example, the levels of isoleucine, trimethylamine-N-oxide, and betaine increased, but those of arginine and ATP decreased in the liver; inosine and lactate were accumulated whereas glutamate and choline were depleted in the gill; the levels of lactate and isoleucine were elevated but those of arginine and glycogen were depleted in the muscle tissue. Furthermore, the corresponding metabolic pathways of the characteristic metabolites indicated major changes in the functions of these metabolites. Histological changes in the studied tissues revealed liver lobule damage immediately after inking, with the presence of disordered epithelial cells and partial cell necrosis in the gill. Our results demonstrated that a combination of metabolomics and histological analyses could provide molecular-level insights for elucidating the defense response of cuttlefish against predators.
喷墨是头足类动物（乌贼、鱿鱼和章鱼）防御应激反应的一部分。一些个体墨鱼（Sepia pharaonis）在持续的压力和喷墨后死亡；然而，头足类动物对压力和喷墨的生理反应仍然未知。本研究使用 H NMR 光谱结合多元数据分析，研究了代谢谱，并讨论了 S. pharaonis 组织对连续喷墨的生理作用。共鉴定出 50 种代谢物，包括氨基酸、有机渗透物、核苷酸、能量储存化合物和喷墨应激诱导的明显组织特异性代谢物。喷墨应激对研究代谢物的水平有不同的影响，例如，肝脏中异亮氨酸、三甲胺 N-氧化物和甜菜碱的水平增加，而精氨酸和 ATP 的水平降低；鳃中肌苷和乳酸积累，而谷氨酸和胆碱消耗；肌肉组织中乳酸和异亮氨酸水平升高，但精氨酸和糖原水平降低。此外，特征代谢物的相应代谢途径表明这些代谢物的功能发生了重大变化。组织学变化表明，喷墨后立即出现肝小叶损伤，鳃上皮细胞排列紊乱，部分细胞坏死。我们的结果表明，代谢组学和组织学分析的结合可以提供分子水平的见解，阐明墨鱼对捕食者的防御反应。
