1. Ciona intestinalis galectin (CiLgals-a and CiLgals-b) genes are differentially expressed in endostyle zones and challenged by LPS.
- Author
-
Parrinello D, Sanfratello MA, Vizzini A, Parrinello N, and Cammarata M
- Subjects
- Animals, Ciona intestinalis metabolism, Galectins genetics, Immunohistochemistry, In Situ Hybridization, Italy, Lipopolysaccharides, Oligonucleotides genetics, Pharynx metabolism, Ciona intestinalis genetics, Galectins metabolism, Pharynx immunology
- Abstract
Immunohistochemical and in situ hybridization assays were performed to answer the question whether the endostyle, that is the initial gastro-intestinal trait of Ciona intestinalis pharynx, is involved in galectin (CiLgals-a and CiLgals-b) production during the pharynx inflammatory response to LPS inoculation. Specific anti-CiLgal-a and anti-CiLgals-b antibodies, and oligonucleotide probes, that mark inflammatory hemocytes inside the pharynx vessels and vessel epithelium as shown by a previous paper, were assayed on endostyle histological sections. For the first time, we show that galectins are produced by endostyle zones, and both CiLgals-a and -b genes are upregulated by LPS. CiLgals-a and CiLgals-b are constitutively expressed in the endostyle zone 2 and 3, respectively, both genes are upregulated by LPS in the zone 2, and CiLgals-b in the zone 3 and 4. The antibody-reacting material contained in intracellular and extracellular large vesicles suggest an unexpected vesicle-dependent transporting mechanism of galectins not provided with signal peptide. Differential expression and gene upregulation in not-treated and LPS-treated specimens, support the role of endostyle galectins both in filter feeding and defense responses., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)
- Published
- 2015
- Full Text
- View/download PDF