Marín-Parra Claudia, Serna-Duque Jhon Alberto, Espinosa-Ruiz Cristóbal, Esteban María Ángeles
Immunobiology for Aquaculture Group, Department of Cell Biology and Histology, Faculty of Biology, Campus Regional de Excelencia Internacional "Campus Mare Nostrum", University of Murcia, 30100, Murcia, Spain.
Aquaculture and Animal Production Technology Department, Institute of Agricultural and Environmental Research and Development of Murcia (IMIDA), 30150, Murcia, Spain.
Mar Biotechnol (NY). 2025 Jul 12;27(4):109. doi: 10.1007/s10126-025-10488-z.
Host defense peptides (HDPs) are vital to immunity due to their antimicrobial and immunomodulatory properties. While extensively studied in mammals, their immunomodulatory roles remain complex, and research on HDPs in fish is limited. This study aimed to predict physicochemical properties and mechanisms of action of seven HDPs in gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata): two piscidins (piscidin 1, piscidin 2) and five hepcidins (hepcidin H1, H2C, H2E, H2H, H2I). Predictions indicated heterogeneity among HDPs, all exhibiting antioxidant capacity and bioactive potential. In vitro analyses of these synthetic HDPs on head kidney leucocytes of gilthead seabream revealed minimal direct effects on leucocyte activities. RT-PCR gene expression analysis in leukocytes after 2 h of HDP incubation showed significant upregulation of bax-1 (hepcidin H2I), il-6 (piscidin 2), tnf-α (piscidin 1), tlr-7 (piscidin 1), and tlr-8 (piscidin 1), and downregulation of casp-3 (hepcidin H1), bcl-2 (hepcidin H2C), il-1β (hepcidin H1, H2C, H2E, H2H, H2I), tnf-α (piscidin 2, hepcidin H1, H2E, H2I), tlr-7 (piscidin 2, hepcidin H2E), and tlr-8 (piscidin 2, hepcidin H2H). The results indicate that HDPs demonstrate diverse immunomodulatory impacts on seabream white blood cells, playing a crucial role in regulating genes associated with programmed cell death, inflammatory responses, and Toll-like receptors. This complex function highlights the adaptability and significance of the studied HDPs in the immune system of gilthead seabream.
宿主防御肽（HDPs）因其抗菌和免疫调节特性而对免疫至关重要。虽然在哺乳动物中已进行了广泛研究，但其免疫调节作用仍很复杂，而关于鱼类HDPs的研究有限。本研究旨在预测金头鲷（Sparus aurata）中七种HDPs的理化性质和作用机制：两种鱼杀菌肽（鱼杀菌肽1、鱼杀菌肽2）和五种铁调素（铁调素H1、H2C、H2E、H2H、H2I）。预测表明HDPs之间存在异质性，所有HDPs均表现出抗氧化能力和生物活性潜力。对这些合成HDPs在金头鲷头肾白细胞上进行的体外分析显示，它们对白细胞活性的直接影响极小。HDP孵育2小时后，白细胞的RT-PCR基因表达分析表明，bax-1（铁调素H2I）、il-6（鱼杀菌肽2）、tnf-α（鱼杀菌肽1）、tlr-7（鱼杀菌肽1）和tlr-8（鱼杀菌肽1）显著上调，而casp-3（铁调素H1）、bcl-2（铁调素H2C）、il-1β（铁调素H1、H2C、H2E、H2H、H2I）、tnf-α（鱼杀菌肽2、铁调素H1、H2E、H2I）、tlr-7（鱼杀菌肽2、铁调素H2E）和tlr-8（鱼杀菌肽2、铁调素H2H）下调。结果表明，HDPs对鲷鱼白细胞表现出多样的免疫调节影响，在调节与程序性细胞死亡、炎症反应和Toll样受体相关的基因中起关键作用。这种复杂的功能凸显了所研究的HDPs在金头鲷免疫系统中的适应性和重要性。
