Comparative gel-based proteomics analysis to disclose the impact of different stressors on gilthead seabream liver

Hepatic metabolic adjustments are key adaptive mechanisms to stress in fish targeting at increasing energy availability for the animal to efficiently cope with a stressor. A comparative gel-based proteomics analysis (2D-DIGE) was employed to discover the set of liver proteins involved in the adaptive processes that tune the physiological response to chronic stressors in Sparus aurata. Three separated trials were established where fish were submitted to different stressors (overcrowding, net handling and hypoxia). Two intensities for each stressor were tested, in triplicate tanks. Two liver samples per tank (6 per experimental treatment) were collected for liver proteome analysis at the end of each trial.