Department of Biology, Boston University, Boston, MA, 02215, USA.
Pfizer, Inc., 1 Portland St, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA.
Commun Biol. 2023 Jul 7;6(1):698. doi: 10.1038/s42003-023-05084-7.
Lack of proper nutrition has important consequences for the physiology of all organisms, and nutritional status can affect immunity, based on many studies in terrestrial animals. Here we show a positive correlation between nutrition and immunity in the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis. Gene expression profiling of adult anemones shows downregulation of genes involved in nutrient metabolism, cellular respiration, and immunity in starved animals. Starved adult anemones also have reduced protein levels and activity of immunity transcription factor NF-κB. Starved juvenile anemones have increased sensitivity to bacterial infection and also have lower NF-κB protein levels, as compared to fed controls. Weighted Gene Correlation Network Analysis (WGCNA) is used to identify significantly correlated gene networks that were downregulated with starvation. These experiments demonstrate a correlation between nutrition and immunity in an early diverged marine metazoan, and the results have implications for the survival of marine organisms as they encounter changing environments.
营养缺乏对所有生物体的生理学都有重要影响，基于对陆生动物的大量研究，营养状况可以影响免疫力。在这里，我们展示了海葵 Nematostella vectensis 中营养与免疫之间的正相关性。成年海葵的基因表达谱分析表明，饥饿动物中参与营养代谢、细胞呼吸和免疫的基因下调。饥饿的成年海葵的蛋白质水平和免疫转录因子 NF-κB 的活性也降低。与喂食对照相比，饥饿的幼年海葵对细菌感染的敏感性增加，并且 NF-κB 蛋白水平也较低。加权基因相关网络分析 (WGCNA) 用于鉴定与饥饿相关的下调的显著相关基因网络。这些实验证明了在早期分化的海洋后生动物中营养与免疫之间的相关性，并且这些结果对于海洋生物在遇到不断变化的环境时的生存具有重要意义。
