The expanding repertoire of immune‐related molecules with antimicrobial activity in penaeid shrimps: a review

Abstract

Shrimps live in a complex aquatic ecosystem with numerous other biotic and abiotic factors, especially pathogenic microorganisms, which require the adaptation of prudent protective and survival strategies. As invertebrates, shrimps reply on humoral and cellular innate immune response mechanisms for protection against pathogens. One integral part of the humoral innate immune defence mechanism involves many biomolecules that are constitutively expressed or induced by pathogens. Shrimps, therefore, produce various biomolecules and secondary metabolites for physiological and pathophysiological purposes, most of which also act as effector molecules in immune-related functions. A growing number of molecules have been identified as essential constituents of the immune arsenal of biomolecules in penaeid shrimps. This review provides a synthesis of important information on penaeid shrimp-encoded immune-related molecules with antimicrobial activities, their molecular regulation and importance in shrimp innate immune response. Research gaps would be identified and proposed research themes emphasized for future studies.

The ARM repeat domain of hemocyanin interacts with MKK4 to modulate antimicrobial peptides expression

“…Hemocyanin, the respiratory copper-containing glycoprotein in mollusks and arthropods, has been implicated in numerous immune-related functions (see recent reviews by ( Aweya et al., 2021 ; Coates and Costa-Paiva, 2020 )). As an important immune response protein, hemocyanin is induced by immune challenge ( Zhao et al., 2016 ; Zheng et al., 2018 ) and undergoes proteolytic degradation to generate peptides with antimicrobial activity ( Destoumieux-Garzon et al., 2001 ; Wen et al., 2016 ; Zhan et al., 2019 ).…”

“…Given that innate immunity has limited or no memory ( Gourbal et al., 2018 ), the innate immune defense mechanisms have had to evolve or coopt many factors to expand its scale or protection and response repertoire against pathogens and potential pathogens ( Gourbal et al., 2018 ; Netea et al., 2019 ). Thus, most invertebrates encode immune-related proteins ( Aweya et al., 2021 ), including immunoglobulin-like molecules, that enable them mount direct or indirect immune responses by interacting with other proteins/factors via coordinated immune pathways ( Halaby and Mornon, 1998 ). For instance, the fibrinogen-related protein (FREPs) that comprises a C-terminal fibrinogen (FBG) domain and upstream immunoglobulin domains ( Adema, 2015 ) plays important innate immune functions in bay scallop Argopecten irradians ( Zhang et al., 2009a ), mosquito Anopheles gambiae ( Dong and Dimopoulos, 2009 ), and sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus ( Jiang et al., 2018 ) due to the presence of an NF-κB binding motif on FREP promoter region, which can be activated by pathogens ( Jiang et al., 2019 ).…”

Protein Diversity and Immune Specificity of Hemocyanin From Shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei

“…Hemocyanin (HMC) is a large copper-containing respiratory protein found in the hemolymph of mollusks and arthropods. Recently, research revealed that HMC may be a novel and important non-specific innate immune defense molecule ( 2 , 3 ). In crustaceans, HMC is thought to be composed of three distinct classes (α-type, β-type, or γ-type), although a single subunit is able to aggregate into hexameric structures ( 43 ).…”

“…Initially, the immune significance of HMC was dismissed until the late 1990s when Decker and Rimke demonstrated unequivocally its phenoloxidase activity (1). Further research revealed that HMC may be a novel and important non-specific innate immune defense molecule (2,3). It has been reported that HMC could be functionally converted into phenoloxidase (4) antimicrobial peptides (5)(6)(7)(8), antiviral (9)(10)(11)(12), antitumor agent (13)(14)(15)(16)(17), antifungal (18), agglutinin (19,20), hemolysin (21), and regulatory proteins (22,23).…”

Plant Antimicrobial Peptides (PAMPs): Features, Applications, Production, Expression, and Challenges

“…In addition to having antimicrobial activity, PAMPs play a significant role in regulating plant growth and development and can be used as food additives [23]. PAMPs have a wide spectrum of antiviral, antifungal, antioxidative, antibacterial, chitinase, and proteinaseinhibitory activities [27] to create physical barriers against the spread and penetration of pathogens using waxy cuticle layers and trichomes, or using chemical barriers to inhibit the growth of the pathogens using a complex cell recognition system and photo hormone networks transcriptional pathways, secondary metabolites, and many diverse proteins [23]. PAMPs also act as prominent chemical barriers in plants to resist abiotic stresses [28].…”