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Ammonia stress under high environmental ammonia induces Hsp70 and Hsp90 in the mud eel, Monopterus cuchia

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Abstract

The obligatory air-breathing mud eel (Monopterus cuchia) is frequently being challenged with high environmental ammonia (HEA) exposure in its natural habitats. The present study investigated the possible induction of heat shock protein 70 and 90 (hsp70, hsc70, hsp90α and hsp90β) genes and more expression of Hsp70 and Hsp90 proteins under ammonia stress in different tissues of the mud eel after exposure to HEA (50 mM NH4Cl) for 14 days. HEA resulted in significant accumulation of toxic ammonia in different body tissues and plasma, which was accompanied with the stimulation of oxidative stress in the mud eel as evidenced by more accumulation of malondialdehyde (MDA) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) during exposure to HEA. Further, hyper-ammonia stress led to significant increase in the levels of mRNA transcripts for inducible hsp70 and hsp90α genes and also their translated proteins in different tissues probably as a consequence of induction of hsp70 and hsp90α genes in the mud eel. However, hyper-ammonia stress was neither associated with any significant alterations in the levels of mRNA transcripts for constitutive hsc70 and hsp90β genes nor their translated proteins in any of the tissues studied. More abundance of Hsp70 and Hsp90α proteins might be one of the strategies adopted by the mud eel to defend itself from the ammonia-induced cellular damages under ammonia stress. Further, this is the first report of ammonia-induced induction of hsp70 and hsp90α genes under hyper-ammonia stress in any freshwater air-breathing teleost.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by a project sanctioned to NS by the University Grants Commission, New Delhi, the DSA programme to the Department of Zoology and the UPE-Bioscience project to the North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong, by the University Grants Commission, New Delhi. HH was the recipient of Rajiv Gandhi National Fellowship from the University Grants Commission, New Delhi.

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  1. Biochemical Adaptation Laboratory, Department of Zoology, North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong, 793022, India

    Hnunlalliani Hangzo, Bodhisattwa Banerjee & Nirmalendu Saha

  2. Institute of Biotechnology, Amity University, Sector 125, Noida, 201303, India

    Shrabani Saha

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  1. Hnunlalliani Hangzo
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  2. Bodhisattwa Banerjee
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Hangzo, H., Banerjee, B., Saha, S. et al. Ammonia stress under high environmental ammonia induces Hsp70 and Hsp90 in the mud eel, Monopterus cuchia . Fish Physiol Biochem 43, 77–88 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10695-016-0269-4

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