title: First report of the pituitary adenylate cyclase activating polypeptide (PACAP) in crustaceans: conservation of its functions as growth promoting factor and immunomodulator in the white shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei.
abstract: The high conservation of the pituitary adenylate cyclase activating polypeptide (PACAP) sequence indicates that this peptide fulfills important biological functions in a broad spectrum of organisms. However, in invertebrates, little is known about its presence and its functions remain unclear. Up to now, in non-mammalian vertebrates, the majority of studies on PACAP have focused mainly on the localization, cloning and structural evolution of this peptide. As yet, little is known about its biological functions as growth factor and immunomodulator in lower vertebrates. Recently, we have shown that PACAP, apart from its neuroendocrine role, influences immune functions in larval and juvenile fish. In this work, we isolated for the first time the cDNA encoding the mature PACAP from a crustacean species, the white shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei, corroborating its high degree of sequence conservation, when compared to sequences reported from tunicates to mammalian vertebrates. Based on this, we have evaluated the effects of purified recombinant Clarias gariepinus PACAP administrated by immersion baths on white shrimp growth and immunity. We demonstrated that PACAP improves hemocyte count, superoxide dismutase, lectins and nitric oxide synthase derived metabolites in treated shrimp related with an increase in total protein concentration and growth performance. From our results, PACAP acts as a regulator of shrimp growth and immunity, suggesting that in crustaceans, as in vertebrate organisms, PACAP is an important molecule shared by both the endocrine and the immune systems.
authors.affiliation: Aquatic Biotechnology Project, Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Havana 10600, Cuba.
authors.forename: Juana María
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Lugo
authors.forename: Yamila
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Carpio
authors.forename: Reynold
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Morales
authors.forename: Tania
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Rodríguez-Ramos
authors.forename: Laida
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ramos
authors.forename: Mario Pablo
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Estrada
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D060829:Arthropod Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics; D007814:Larva / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000276:immunology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D033561:Penaeidae / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000276:immunology*; D051219:Pituitary Adenylate Cyclase-Activating Polypeptide / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000662:veterinary; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D016415:Sequence Alignment / Q000662:veterinary
chemical_list: D060829:Arthropod Proteins; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D051219:Pituitary Adenylate Cyclase-Activating Polypeptide; D011994:Recombinant Proteins
keywords: Crustaceans; Growth; Immunity; Invertebrates; PACAP