Effects of hypo- or hyperosmotic stress on lipid synthesis and gluconeogenic activity in tissues of the crab Neohelice granulata

The present study assesses the effects of osmotic stress on phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK), fructose 1,6-bisphosphatase (FBPase) and glucose 6-phosphatase (G6Pase) activities and (14)C-total lipid synthesis from (14)C-glycine in the anterior and posterior gills, jaw muscle, and hepatopancreas of Neohelice granulata. In posterior gills, 24-h exposure to hyperosmotic stress increased PEPCK, FBPase and G6Pase activities. Increase in (14)C-lipid synthesis was associated to the decrease in PEPCK activity after 72-h exposure to hyperosmotic stress. Hypo-osmotic stress decreased PEPCK and G6Pase activities in posterior gills; however, (14)C-lipids increased after 72-h exposure to stress. In anterior gills, decreases in the G6Pase activity after 72-h of hyperosmotic stress and in (14)C-lipogenesis after 144-h were observed, while PEPCK activity increased after 144 h. Exposure to hypo-osmotic stress increased (14)C-lipid synthesis and PEPCK activity in anterior gills. Muscle G6Pase activity increased after 72-h exposure to hypo-osmotic stress; however, no significant change was observed in the lipogenesis. PEPCK decreased in muscle after 144-h exposure to hyperosmotic, coinciding with increased (14)C-lipid synthesis. In the hepatopancreas, a decrease in the (14)C-lipogenesis occurred after 24-h exposure to hyperosmotic stress, accompanied by increase in (14)C-lipid synthesis. Additionally, PEPCK activity returned to control levels. The hepatopancreatic lipogenesis from amino acids was not involved in the metabolic adjustment during hypo-osmotic stress. However, gluconeogenesis is one of the pathways involved in the adjustment of the intracellular concentration of nitrogenated compounds.