2. Academic Validation
  3. Hemocyanin controls Vibrio levels in hemolymph by modulating intracellular ROS via p38 MAPK

Hemocyanin controls Vibrio levels in hemolymph by modulating intracellular ROS via p38 MAPK

  • Virulence. 2025 Dec;16(1):2546066. doi: 10.1080/21505594.2025.2546066.
Jiawei Cheng 1,  Yunyu Shi 1,  Yonghui Kong 1,  Yuxi Wu 1,  Yankang Wang 1,  Jude Juventus Aweya 1 2 3,  Shiyuan Bao 1 4,  Junjie Nie 1,  Qian Feng 1,  Yongzhen Zhao 5,  Yueling Zhang 1,  Zhihong Zheng 1
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Marine Biotechnology, Institute of Marine Sciences, Shantou University, Shantou, China.
  • 2 Department of Food and Human Nutritional Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada.
  • 3 The Canadian Centre for Agri-Food Research in Health and Medicine, St Boniface Hospital Albrechtsen Research Centre, Winnipeg, Canada.
  • 4 Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Ecosystem and Bioresource, Fourth Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources, Beihai, China.
  • 5 Guangxi Academy of Fishery Sciences, Guangxi Key Laboratory of Aquatic Genetic Breeding and Healthy Aquaculture, Nanning, China.
PMID: 40852966 DOI: 10.1080/21505594.2025.2546066
Abstract

Redox reactions are essential for various biological processes, hence, maintaining redox homeostasis is critical for cellular health and host-microbe interactions, particularly in marine invertebrates, where these processes remain poorly understood. This study investigates the role of the respiratory protein hemocyanin in regulating redox-related genes, Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) levels in shrimp hemocytes, and its influence on immune function and hemolymph Vibrio abundance. Our results show that hemocyanin is crucial in the regulation of the redox system, as hemocyanin knockdown disrupts the expression of antioxidant (PvPOD and PvGPX) and pro-oxidant (PvXOX) genes and redox enzyme activities, leading to elevated ROS levels in hemocytes. Additionally, we found that hemocyanin controls redox homeostasis in hemocytes through the p38-MAPK-c-Jun signaling pathway. Moreover, ROS levels regulated by hemocyanin via the MAPK pathway impacted on hemolymph Vibrio spp. abundance. These findings highlight a crucial role of hemocyanin as an antioxidant that modulates redox balance in shrimp hemocytes, with significant implications for immune defense and microbial homeostasis, offering new insights into antioxidative mechanisms in marine invertebrates.

Keywords

ROS; Shrimp hemocyanin; hemolymph Vibrio abundance; p38-MAPK-c-jun pathway; redox balance.

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