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First published online November 17, 2005
Journal of Experimental Biology 208, 4427-4436 (2005)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2005
doi: 10.1242/jeb.01924

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Acute thermal stress and various heavy metals induce tissue-specific pro- or anti-apoptotic events via the p38-MAPK signal transduction pathway in Mytilus galloprovincialis (Lam.)

Erene Kefaloyianni, Eleni Gourgou, Vanessa Ferle, Efstathios Kotsakis, Catherine Gaitanaki and Isidoros Beis^*

Department of Animal and Human Physiology, School of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Athens, Panepistimioupolis, Athens 157 84, Greece

^* Author for correspondence (e-mail: ibeis{at}biol.uoa.gr)

Accepted 10 October 2005

We investigated the effects of various heavy metals such as copper, zinc and cadmium, as well as acute thermal stress, on the signalling mechanisms involved in the protection and/or apoptosis of Mytilus galloprovincialis mantle and gill tissues. The results of our studies revealed that mantle and gill tissues differentially respond to the stressful stimuli examined. In the mantle tissue, 1 µmol l^–1 Cu²⁺ and 50 µmol l^–1 Zn²⁺ induced a transient p38-MAPK activation, whereas 1 µmol l^–1 Cd²⁺ induced a biphasic profile of the kinase phosphorylation with maximal values at 15 and 120 min of treatment, respectively. Furthermore, 1 µmol l^–1 SB203580 abolished the Cu²⁺-induced kinase phosphorylation. In gills, both Cu²⁺ and Zn²⁺ induced a considerably higher p38-MAPK activation, which remained elevated for at least 60 min, whereas Cd²⁺ induced a maximal kinase activation within 60 min of treatment. Hypothermia (4°C) induced a moderate kinase phosphorylation (maximised at 30 min), whereas hyperthermia (30°C) induced a rapid (within 15 min) p38-MAPK phosphorylation that remained considerably above basal levels for at least 2 h. Our studies on the synergistic effect of hyperthermia and Cu²⁺ revealed that these two stressful stimuli are additive in the mantle tissue, inducing an almost double p38-MAPK activation. Further studies on the involvement of the p38-MAPK signalling pathway in tissue-specific pro- or anti-apoptotic events revealed that identical stressful stimuli possibly lead to apoptotic death via the caspase-3 activation in the mantle tissue and to anti-apoptotic events possibly via the induction of Hsp70 overexpression in the gill tissue.

Key words: mussel, copper, zinc, cadmium, signalling, apoptosis, hyperthermia, Hsp70

This article has been cited by other articles:

				C. Gaitanaki, M. Pliatska, K. Stathopoulou, and I. Beis Cu2+ and acute thermal stress induce protective events via the p38-MAPK signalling pathway in the perfused Rana ridibunda heart J. Exp. Biol., February 1, 2007; 210(3): 438 - 446. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]