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Cellular localization of pleurocidin gene expression and synthesis in winter flounder gill using immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization

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Abstract

Pleurocidin is an antimicrobial peptide isolated from winter flounder and has been previously localized to mucous cells of the skin epidermis and the intestine. The present study was designed to determine the cell type involved in pleurocidin gene expression and protein synthesis in gills from the same species. Whole-mount in situ hybridization with a pleurocidin-specific RNA probe and whole-mount immunohistochemistry with an anti-pleurocidin antibody localized the expression of this gene and the synthesis of its corresponding protein in a population of cells primarily isolated to the non-lamellar portion of the gill filament. Histological techniques allowed the presumptive identification of these cells as eosinophilic granular cells. These observations suggest that pleurocidin is expressed in not one but two distinct populations of cells within the winter flounder, one being an important group of inflammatory cells, the eosinophilic granular cells.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful for the technical assistance and facilities provided by the Microscopy Unit at the Institute for Marine Biosciences, National Research Council of Canada. We thank Dr. Laura Brown for critical reading of the manuscript. The anti-pleurocidin antibody was kindly provided by Dr. Choy Hew. This is NRC publication 42385.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. AquaNet, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, Newfoundland, A1C 5S7, Canada

    Harry M. Murray

  2. Institute for Marine Biosciences, National Research Council, 1411 Oxford Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 3Z1, Canada

    Harry M. Murray, Jeff W. Gallant & Susan E. Douglas

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  1. Harry M. Murray
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  2. Jeff W. Gallant
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  3. Susan E. Douglas
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Correspondence to Harry M. Murray.

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This project was partially funded by the National Research Council of Canada and AquaNet

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Murray, H.M., Gallant, J.W. & Douglas, S.E. Cellular localization of pleurocidin gene expression and synthesis in winter flounder gill using immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization. Cell Tissue Res 312, 197–202 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00441-003-0723-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00441-003-0723-3

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