Effects of temperature on complexes I and II mediated respiration, ROS generation and oxidative stress status in isolated gill mitochondria of the mud crab Scylla serrata

Effects of fluctuations in habitat temperature (18-30 degrees) on mitochondrial respiratory behavior and oxidative metabolic responses in the euryhaline ectotherm Scylla serrate are not fully understood. In the present study, effects of different temperatures ranging from 12 to 40 degrees C on glutamate and succinate mediated mitochondrial respiration, respiratory control ratio (RCR), ATP generation rate, ratio for the utilization of phosphate molecules per atomic oxygen consumption (P/O), levels of lipid peroxidation and H2O2 in isolated gill mitochondria of S. serrata are reported. The pattern of variation in the studied parameters was similar for the two substrates at different temperatures. The values recorded for RCR ( >= 3) and P/O ratio (1.4-2.7) at the temperature range of 15-25 degrees C were within the normal range reported for other animals (3-10 for RCR and 1.5-3 for P/O). Values for P/O ratio, ATP generation rate and RCR were highest at 18 degrees C when compared to the other assay temperatures. However, at low and high extreme temperatures, i.e. at 12 and 40 degrees C, states III and IV respiration rates were not clearly distinguishable from each other indicating that mitochondria were completely uncoupled. Positive correlations were noticed between temperature and the levels of both lipid peroxidation and H2O2. It is inferred that fluctuations on either side of ambient habitat temperature may adversely influence mitochondria respiration and oxidative metabolism in S. serrata. The results provide baseline data to understand the impacts of acute changes in temperature on ectotherms inhabiting estuarine or marine environments. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Investigating the Conformational Structure and Potential Site Interactions of SOD Inhibitors on Ec-SOD in Marine Mud Crab Scylla serrata: A Molecular Modeling Approach

© 2015, International Association of Scientists in the Interdisciplinary Areas and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg. Superoxide dismutases (SODs) act as a first line of the enzymatic antioxidant defense system to control cellular superoxide anion toxicity. Previously, several inhibitors have been widely identified and catalogued for inhibition of SOD activity; however, still the information about the mechanism of interaction and points toward the inhibitor interactions in structures of SODs in general and in extracellular (Ec)-SOD in particular is still in naive. In the present research, we present an insight to elucidate the molecular basis of interactions of SOD inhibitors with Ec-SOD in mud crab Scylla serrata using molecular modeling and docking approaches. Different inhibitors of SOD such as hydrogen peroxide ( H 2O2) , potassium cyanide, sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), β-mercaptoethanol and dithiocarbamate were screened to understand the potential sites that may act as sites for cleavage or blocking in the protein. SOD–SDS and SOD - H 2O2 complex interactions indicate residues Pro72 and Asp102 of the predicted crab Ec-SOD as common targets. The GOLD result indicates that Pro72, Asp102 and Thr103 are commonly acting as the site of interaction in Ec-SOD of S. serrata with SOD inhibitors. For the first time, the results of this study provide an insight into the structural properties of Ec-SOD of S. serrata and define the possible involvements between the amino acids present in its active sites, i.e., in the regions from 70 to 84 and from 101 to 103 and different inhibitors

Effects of estragole on the compound action potential of the rat sciatic nerve

Estragole, a relatively nontoxic terpenoid ether, is an important constituent of many essential oils with widespread applications in folk medicine and aromatherapy and known to have potent local anesthetic activity. We investigated the effects of estragole on the compound action potential (CAP) of the rat sciatic nerve. The experiments were carried out on sciatic nerves dissected from Wistar rats. Nerves, mounted in a moist chamber, were stimulated at a frequency of 0.2 Hz, with electric pulses of 50-100-µs duration at 10-20 V, and evoked CAP were monitored on an oscilloscope and recorded on a computer. CAP control parameters were: peak-to-peak amplitude (PPA), 9.9 ± 0.55 mV (N = 15), conduction velocity, 92.2 ± 4.36 m/s (N = 15), chronaxy, 45.6 ± 3.74 µs (N = 5), and rheobase, 3.9 ± 0.78 V (N = 5). Estragole induced a dose-dependent blockade of the CAP. At 0.6 mM, estragole had no demonstrable effect. At 2.0 and 6.0 mM estragole, PPA was significantly reduced at the end of 180-min exposure of the nerve to the drug to 85.6 ± 3.96 and 13.04 ± 1.80% of control, respectively. At 4.0 mM, estragole significantly altered PPA, conduction velocity, chronaxy, and rheobase (P <= 0.05, ANOVA; N = 5) to 49.3 ± 6.21 and 77.7 ± 3.84, 125.9 ± 10.43 and 116.7 ± 4.59%, of control, respectively. All of these effects developed slowly and were reversible upon a 300-min wash-out. The data show that estragole dose-dependently blocks nerve excitability