Proteomic and metabolomic analysis on the toxicological effects of As (III) and As (V) in juvenile mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis

Inorganic arsenic (As) is a known pollutant including two chemical forms (arsenite (As III) and arsenate (As V)), in marine and coastal environment. Marine mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis is an important environmental monitoring species around the world. In this study, we focused on valence-specific responses of As in juvenile mussel M. galloprovincialis using a combined proteomic and metabolomic approach. Metabolic responses indicated that As (III) mainly caused disturbance in osmotic regulation in juvenile mussels. As (V) caused disturbances in both osmotic regulation and energy metabolism marked by different metabolic responses, including betaine, taurine, glucose and glycogen. Proteomic responses exhibited that As (III) had a significant negative effect on cytoskeleton and cell structure (actin and collagen alpha-6(VI) chain). As (V) affected some key enzymes involved in energy metabolism (cytosolic malate dehydrogenase, cMDH) and cell development (ornithine aminotransferase and astacin). Overall, all these results confirmed the valence-specific responses in juvenile mussels to As exposures. These findings demonstrate that a combined metabolomic and proteomic approach could provide an important insight into the toxicological effects of environmental pollutants in organisms.