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Coastal environments of Kandalaksha Gulf in the White Sea (Russia) despite nature conservation efforts are heavily influenced by human activities. Biological effects of complex environmental pollution, including organic substances, heavy metals, and oil hydrocarbons, were assessed in widely distributed marine invertebrates, Gammarus duebeni (Crustacea, Amphipoda) and Mytilus edulis (Mollusca, Bivalvia), collected from a series of anthropogenically-impacted areas and distanced reference sites in Kandalaksha Gulf. The parameters of intracellular protein degradation pathways such as cytosol calpain system and lysosomal cathepsins B (CatB) and cathepsin D (CatD) were studied. The response reactions observed in invertebrates vary in specificity and ranged from adaptive to destructive depending on the total contaminant level and the nature of predominant pollutant. The ecological relevance of studied parameters as biomarkers was confirmed by their ability to indicate both expose to pollutants and adverse effects at the organism level., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)