Meeting Abstract
Wound healing is critical for survival. Plants and animals have mechanisms to heal wounds and there are common themes. Common themes in insect and crustacean immune systems include the prophenoloxidase cascade, production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), enzymes that scavenge ROS, and antimicrobial peptides. Crustacean hemolymph coagulation systems involve some aspects of vertebrate blood coagulation, like transglutaminase and hemocytes. Transglutaminase crosslinks protein and is evolutionarily conserved in many coagulation systems and are in barnacles. Barnacles have an epithelial layer that we have observed tearing during cuticle expansion and leaking fluid. We hypothesized that cuticle tear and wound healing are integral parts of barnacle adhesion. We assayed living barnacle baseplates with enzyme-specific substrates and inhibitors and ROS-specific substrates and inhibitors to characterize activity of secretions. We qualitatively measured activity using fluorescent ROS-specific substrates and confocal scanning laser microscopy (CLSM) and characterized proteins in barnacle secretions further with proteomics. There is oxidative activity at the outer edge of the barnacle baseplate and associated with expanding cuticle as seen by CLSM. Proteomics show prophenoloxidase activating factor in barnacle secretions. Antimicrobial pretreatment of a surface lowers the risk of infection when the cuticle tears and a wound response is activated. Oxidative activity functions in crosslinking and as an antimicrobial. This work informs an aspect of barnacle adhesion and bacterial management and also suggests that barnacles share wound response mechanisms found in many insects and a few other aquatic crustaceans.
