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Functional dissimilarity of melanomacrophage centres in the liver and spleen from females of the teleost fish Prochilodus argenteus

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Abstract

Melanomacrophage centres (MMCs) are formed by macrophage aggregates containing pigments such as hemosiderin, melanin and lipofuscin. MMCs are found in animals such as reptiles, amphibians and, mainly, fishes, in organs such as the kidney, spleen, thymus and liver. In teleost fish, several functions have been attributed to MMCs, including the capture and storage of cations, the phagocytosis of cellular debris and immunological reactions. As the use of MMCs has been suggested as a tool for the assessment of environmental impacts, our aim has been to describe the various metabolic processes performed by MMCs in diverse organs (liver and spleen) by using the teleost Prochilodus argenteus as an animal model. MMCs from the liver and spleen were assessed by histochemistry, transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray microanalysis techniques and biochemical assay for N-acetylglucosaminidase activity. The data showed metabolic differences in MMCs between the liver and spleen of P. argenteus in their morphometric characteristics and biochemical and elemental composition. The implications of these findings are discussed, focusing on their role in organ metabolism.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the Estação de Hidrobiologia e Piscicultura de Três Marias and the CODEVASF/CEMIG convention for assistance in fish sampling.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Morfologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Pampulha, Belo Horizonte, 31270-901, Minas Gerais, Brazil

    H. J. Ribeiro, M. S. Procópio, J. M. M. Gomes, H. Chiarini-Garcia, Antonio Carlos Santana Castro, E. Rizzo & José Dias Corrêa Jr

  2. Centro Universitário Metodista Izabela Hendrix, Nucleo de Biociências e Formação de Professores, 30160-012, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil

    F. O. Vieira

  3. Departamento de Fisiologia e Biofisica, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, 31270-901, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brasil

    R. C. Russo

  4. Departamento de Fisica, Instituto de Ciências Exatas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, 31270-901, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brasil

    K. Balzuweit

Authors
  1. H. J. Ribeiro
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  2. M. S. Procópio
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  3. J. M. M. Gomes
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  4. F. O. Vieira
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  5. R. C. Russo
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  6. K. Balzuweit
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  7. H. Chiarini-Garcia
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  8. Antonio Carlos Santana Castro
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  9. E. Rizzo
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  10. José Dias Corrêa Jr
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to José Dias Corrêa Jr.

Additional information

This study received financial support from CNPq and FAPEMIG (Brazilian Agencies for Science and Technology).

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Supplementary material 1

Liver sections of the same MMCs stained by (a) Perls’ technique for hemosiderin, (b) aldehyde fuchsin for lipofuscin (white arrows) and (c) Masson/Fontana stain for melanin (white arrows). Note the correspondence among the granule types of lipofuscin, hemosiderin and melanin distribution with the different techniques. Bars 17 μm (GIF 347 kb)

High resolution (TIFF 28885 kb)

Supplementary material 2

Spleen sections of the same MMCs stained by (a) Perls’ technique for hemosiderin, (b) aldehyde fuchsin for lipofuscin (white arrows) and (c) Masson/Fontana stain for melanin (white arrows). Note the correspondence among the granule types of lipofuscin, hemosiderin and melanin distribution with the different techniques. Bars 17 μm (GIF 422 kb)

High resolution (TIFF 36139 kb)

Supplementary material 3

Transmission electron micrographs of (a) a liver MMCs exhibiting electron-dense particulate granules resembling ferritin (b). The same area was examined by X-ray microanalysis (c); the spectrum shows the Fe, O and S characteristic peaks observed in intracellular ferritin deposits. C and Cl come from the epoxy resin and U and Os result from fixation and staining procedures. These data were obtained by using a Tecnai—G2-20 (FEI) transmission electron microscope with a coupled EDS system. (GIF 265 kb)

High resolution (TIFF 14048 kb)

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Ribeiro, H.J., Procópio, M.S., Gomes, J.M.M. et al. Functional dissimilarity of melanomacrophage centres in the liver and spleen from females of the teleost fish Prochilodus argenteus . Cell Tissue Res 346, 417–425 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00441-011-1286-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00441-011-1286-3

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