Abstract
In earlier studies we determined the effect, presence and ultrastructure of vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) and 5- hydroxytryptamine (5-HT)-containing nerve fibres in the tilapia and goldfish intestinal mucosa. 5-HT-labelled varicosities were found close to the epithelial cells; however, synaptic membrane specializations have never been observed. VIP-like immunoreactive nerve fibres appear to be located less frequently close to the goldfish epithelium, as in the tilapia intestine, in which the distance between the VIP- or 5-HT-labelled varicosities and the epithelial cells was also rather large (more than 2 μm). To establish a possible role of VIP and 5-HT as neurotransmitters involved in the regulation of fish intestinal epithelium, both electron microscopical and immunoelectron microscopical methods were used to visualize the release of 5-HT and VIP from nerve fibres. We found exocytoses from VIP-ergic and serotonergic varicosities in the muscle layers of both fish. Directly underneath the intestinal epithelium of the goldfish, it was demonstrated that 5-HT could be released from scarce varicosities. The release of 5-HT in the tilapia intestinal mucosa could only be observed from endocrine cells
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Agnati, L.F., Bjelke, B. & Fuxe, K. (1993) Volume transmission in the brain. Am. Scientist 80, 362-73.
Bakker, R., Dekker, K., De Jonge, H.R. & Groot, J.A. (1993) VIP, serotonin, and epinephrine modulate the ion selectivity of tight junctions of goldfish intestine. Am. J. Physiol. 264, 362-68.
Buma, P. & Nieuwenhuys, R. (1987) Ultrastructural demonstration of exotocin and vasopressin release sites in the neural lobe and median eminence of the rat by tannic acid and immunogold methods. Neurosci. Lett. 74, 151-57.
Buma, P. & Nieuwenhuys, R. (1988) Ultrastructural characterization of exocytotic release sites in different layers of the median eminence of the rat. Cell Tissue Res. 252, 107-14.
Buma, P., Roubos, E.W. & Buijs, R.M. (1984) Ultrastructural demonstration of exocytosis of neuronal, neuroendocrine and endocrine secretions with an in vitro tannic acid (TARI-) method. Histochemistry 80, 247-56.
Kiliaan, A.J., Joosten, H.W.J., Bakker, R., Dekker, K. & Groot, J.A. (1989) Serotonergic neurons in the intestine of two teleosts, Carassius auratus and Oreochromis mossambicus, and the effect of serotonin on transepithelial ion-selectivity and muscle tension. Neuroscience 31, 817-24.
Kiliaan, A.J., Scholten, G., Klaren, P., Flik, G., Van Os, C.H. & Groot, J.A. (1990) Vasoactive intestinal peptide in the epithelial function of tilapia intestine (abstract). Z. Gastroenterol. 28, 426.
Kiliaan, A.J., Holmgren, S., JÖnsson, A-C., Dekker, K. & Groot, J.A. (1992) Neurotensin, substance P, gastrin/cholecystokinin, and bombesin in the intestine of the tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus) and the goldfish (Carassius auratus): immunochemical detection and effects on electrophysiological characteristics. Gen. Comp. Endocrinol. 88, 351-63.
Kiliaan, A.J., Holmgren, S., JÖnsson, A-C., Dekker, K. & Groot, J.A. (1993) Neuropeptides in the intestine of two teleost species (Oreochromis mossambicus, Carassius auratus): localization and electrophysiological effects on the epithelium. Cell Tissue Res. 271, 123-34.
Kiliaan, A.J., Scholten, G. & Groot, J.A. (1996) Ultrastructural study of the presence of vasoactive intestinal peptide and serotonin in mucosal nerve fibres and endocrine cells of the intestine of goldfish (Carassius auratus) and the tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus). Cell Tissue Res. 283, 143-50.
Pow, D.V. & Morris, J.F. (1991) Membrane routing during exocytosis and endocytosis in neuroendocrine neurones and endocrine cells: use of colloidal gold particles and immunocytochemical discrimination of membrane compartments. Cell Tissue Res. 264, 299-316.
Schmidt, E.D. & Roubos, E.W. (1988) Structural aspects of potassium stimulation and calcium-dependence of nonsynaptic neuropeptide release by the egg-laying controlling caudodorsal cells of Lymnea stagnalis. Neuroscience 26, 327-35.
Steinbusch, H.W.M., Verhofstad, A.A.J. & Joosten, H.W.J. (1983) Antibodies to serotonin for neuroimmunocytochemical studies: methodological aspects and applications. In Immunohistochemistry (edited by Cuello, A.C.), Vol. III, pp. 193-214. New York: John Wiley.
Van Putten, L.J.A., Kiliaan, A.J. & Buma, P. (1987) Ultrastructural localization of exocytotic release sites in immunocytochemically characterized cell types: a combination of two methods. Histochemistry 86, 375-78.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kiliaan, A.J., Scholten, G. & Groot, J.A. Exocytotic release of vasoactive intestinal polypeptide and serotonin from mucosal nerve fibres and endocrine cells of the intestine of the goldfish (Carassius auratus) and the tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus): an ultrastructural study. J Mol Hist 29, 45–51 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026464801501
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026464801501