Innate immune response in the hemolymph of an ascidian, Halocynthia roretzi, showing soft tunic syndrome, using label-free quantitative proteomics

Soft tunic syndrome of Halocynthia roretzi manifests as soft, weak, and rupturable tunics, causing mass mortality. Utilizing liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS), innate immune response was established by comparing hemolymph protein profiles of ascidians with healthy or softened tunics. Of 100 proteins in each individual ascidian, 59 proteins from healthy and 56 proteins from diseased ascidians were functionally classified. Proteins found only in diseased individuals included trypsin inhibitor and Hr-29, and with high exponentially modified protein abundance index (emPAI) values. From 41 proteins identified to be common to both healthy and diseased ascidians, 15 were associated with innate immune response. Ficolin 3, a component of the lectin-complement system, was significantly decreased in diseased ascidians, but a cell surface protein, type II transmembrane serine protease-1 (TTSP), was considerably elevated. These results suggest that trypsin inhibitor, ficolin 3, and TTSP are probably involved in the innate immune response related to this tunic disease. Beside, Hr-29 could be suggested as a biomarker for soft tunic syndrome.