CRF provokes the release of norepinephrine by hemocytes of Viviparus ater (Gastropoda, Prosobranchia): further evidence in favour of the evolutionary hypothesis of the mobile immune-brain.
The concentration of biogenic amines (norepinephrine, epinephrine and dopamine) was determined by HPLC in serum and hemocytes of the mollusc Viviparus ater following in vitro incubation of the hemolymph with corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) for different periods of time. CRF provoked the release of norepinephrine from hemocytes into the serum, the maximum level being observed after 15 min. incubation. Moreover, immunoreactive tyrosine hydroxylase and dopamine beta-hydroxylase, i.e., the enzymes involved in biogenic amine biosynthesis, have been demonstrated in hemocytes. These findings show that in invertebrates an ancestral type of stress response, similar to that performed by mammalian hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, occurs in phagocytic hemocytes, a cell type capable of both fundamental immune and neuroendocrine responses.
Department of Animal Biology, University of Modena, Italy.
E
E
Ottaviani
E
E
Caselgrandi
A
A
Franchini
C
C
Franceschi
D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D003346:Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004298:Dopamine / Q000378:metabolism; D004837:Epinephrine / Q000378:metabolism; D006434:Hemocytes / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology; D007030:Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System / Q000502:physiology; D007107:Immune System / Q000502:physiology; D009638:Norepinephrine / Q000097:blood*; D012908:Snails
D003346:Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone; D004298:Dopamine; D009638:Norepinephrine; D004837:Epinephrine