Summary
Immunohistochemical studies were performed by use of specific rabbit antisera and purified antibodies to human Tg on cephalic and body sections of Eisenia foetida and on cephalic sections of Lumbricus terrestris. Secondary antisera, either fluorescein- or peroxidase-conjugated, were used to identify the immunoreaction. Immunoreactive perikarya and some immunoreactive nerve fibres were detected in both the cerebral ganglion and the ventral nerve cord of E. foetida. From 8 to 19 Tg-like positive neurons per frontal section were observed in the brain, mainly in the dorsal zone. From 2 to 4 positive perikarya per ganglion were found in sagittal sections of the ventral nerve cord with a repetitive distribution. Numerous positive neurons were also found in the cephalic segments of L. terrestris. The present results indicate that a substance immunologically related to mammalian Tg is synthesized in earthworms. This suggests that some conservative sequences of Tg structure arose very early in evolution and supports the idea of a common evolutionary origin for endocrine and nervous systems.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Alumets J, Håkanson R, Sundler F, Thorell J (1979) Neuronal localisation of immunoreactive enkephalin and β-endorphin in the earthworm. Nature 279:805–806
Aros B, Wenger T, Vigh B, Vigh-Teichmann I (1980) Immunohis- tochemical localization of substance P and ACTH-like activity in the central nervous system of the earthworm Lumbricus terrestris L. Acta Histochem 66:262–268
Barrington EJW (1975) Comparative physiology and the challenge of design. J Exp Zool 194:271–286
Coons AH, Leduc EH, Connelly JM (1955) Studies on antibody production. I. A method for the histochemical demonstration of specific antibody and its application to a study of the hyper- immune rabbit. J Exp Med 102:49–59
Davoli C, Salabé GB, Andreoli M (1978) Immunoreactive properties of anti-thyroglobulin autoantibodies isolated by affinity chromatography from human thyroiditis serum. Clin Exp Immunol 31:218–225
Davoli C, Grimaldi S, Rusca G, Andreoli M, Edelhoch H (1982) The isoelectric focusing of human thyroglobulin. Biochim Biophys Acta 705:243–248
De Baets M, Janssens A, Vlek L, Nakamura R, Jensen F, Weigle WO, Vermeulen A, van Breda Vriesman P (1982) Structure of human thyroglobulin studied using monoclonal antibodies. Ann Endocrinol t. 43:69A
Edelhoch H (1960) The properties of thyroglobulin. I. The effects of alkali. J Biol Chem 235:1326–1334
Engelhardt RP, Dhainaut-Courtois N, Tramu G (1982) Immunohistochemical demonstration of a CCK-like peptide in the ner- vous system of a marine annelid worm, Nereis diversicolor O.F. Muller. Cell Tissue Res 227:401–411
Fujita H (1980) Evolution of the thyroid gland. In: Ishii S, Hirano T, Wada M (eds). Hormones, adaptation and evolution. Japan Scient Soc Press, Springer-Verlag Tokyo, Berlin pp 231–239
Gorbman A, Clements M, O'Brien R (1954) Utilization of radioio dine by Invertebrates, with special study of several Annelida and Mollusca. J Exp Zool 127:75–92
Grimelius L (1968) A silver nitrate stain for α-2 cells in human pancreatic islets. Acta Soc Med Ups 73:243–270
Hansen BL, Hansen GN, Scharrer B (1982) Immunoreactive material resembling vertebrate neuropeptides in the corpus cardia- cum and corpus allatum of the insect Leucophaea maderae. Cell Tissue Res 225:319–329
Herlant-Meewis H (1966) Les cellules neurosécrétrices de la chaîne nerveuse d'Eisenia foetida. Z Zellforsch 69:319–325
Kameda Y, Ikeda A (1978) Immunohistochemical study of a large molecular fragment of thyroglobulin in parafollicular cells. Cell Tissue Res 187:429–438
Kobayashi H (1980) Evolution of the metabolic endocrine system: its phylogenetic significance. In: Ishii S, Hirano T, Wada M (eds) Hormones, adaptation and evolution. Japan Scient Soc Press, Springer-Verlag Tokyo, Berlin pp 15–22
Metzger H, Edelhoch H (1962) Purification of antithyroglobulin antibodies. Nature (Lond) 193:275–276
Monaco F, Dominici R, Andreoli M, De Pirro R, Roche J (1981) Thyroid hormone formation in thyroglobulin synthesized in the amphioxus (Branchiostoma lanceolatum Pallas). Comp Biochem Physiol 70B:341–343
Nunez J (1980) Iodination and thyroid hormone synthesis. In: De Visscher M (ed). The thyroid gland. Raven Press New York pp 39–59
Rémy C, Dubois MP (1979) Localisation par immunofluorescence de peptides analogues à l'α-endorphin dans les ganglions infra- oesophagiens du Lombricide Dendrobaena subrubicunda Eisen. Experientia 35:137–138
Rémy C, Tramu G, Dubois MP (1982) Immunohistological demonstration of a CRF-like material in the central nervous system of the annelid Dendrobaena. Cell Tissue Res 227:569–575
Rose NR, Accavitti M, Pydyn EF, Leon MA, Brown RK (1982) The use of hybridoma antibodies to probe the antigenic deter- minants of thyroglobulin. Adv Exp Med Biol 150:23–35
Roth J, LeRoith D, Shiloach J, Rosenzweig JL, Lesniak MA, Havrankova J (1982) The evolutionary origins of hormones, neu- rotransmitters, and other extracellular chemical messengers. N Engl J Med 306:523–527
Salabé GB, Davoli C, Fontana S (1973) The immunoreaction of auto- and heteroantisera with modified human thyroglobulin. Int Arch Allergy 44:181–196
Scharrer B (1967) The neurosecretory neuron in neuroendocrine regulatory mechanism. Am Zool 7:161–169
Scharrer B (1978) Peptidergic neurons: facts and trends. Gen Comp Endocrinol 34:50–62
Scharrer E (1928) Die Lichtempfindlichkeit blinder Elritzen (Untersuchungen über das Zwischenhirn der Fische. I). Z vergl Physiol 7:1–38
Scharrer E, Scharrer B (1937) Über Drüsennervenzellen und neurosekretorische Organe bei Wirbellosen und Wirbeltieren. Biol Rev Camb Phil Soc 12:185–216
Spangenberg DB (1971) Thyroxine induced metamorphosis in Au- relia. J Exp Zool 178:183–194
Spangenberg DB (1974) Thyroxine in early strobilation in Aurelia aurita. Am Zool 14:825–831
Sundler F, Håkanson R, Alumets J, Walles B (1977) Neuronal localization of pancreatic polypeptide (PP) and vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) immunoreactivity in the earthworm (Lumbricus terrestris). Brain Res Bull 2:61–65
Taylor CR, Burns J (1974) The demonstration of plasmacells and other immunoglobulin-containing cells in formalin-fixed, paraf- fin-embedded tissue using peroxidase-labelled antibody. J Clin Pathol 27:14–20
Wright GM, Filosa MF, Youson JH (1978) Light and electron microscopic immunocytochemical localization of thyroglobulin in the thyroid gland of the anadromous sea lamprey, Petromy- zon marinus L., during its upstream migration. Cell Tissue Res 187:473–478
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Marcheggiano, A., Iannoni, C. & Davoli, C. Thyroglobulin-like immunoreactivity in the nervous system of Eisenia foetida (Annelida, Oligochaeta). Cell Tissue Res. 241, 429–433 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00217190
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00217190