title: The plasmablast-like leukocyte in the kidney of fugu (Takifugu rubripes).
abstract: In teleosts, the kidney is the major immune organ. From the kidney of fugu (Takifugu rubripes), we isolated a unique leukocyte population. This population shows properties similar to those of mammalian plasmablasts. First, adherent cells expressing IgM protein on their surface were obtained from the fugu kidney. Flow cytometry (FCM) showed that these cells were mainly composed of two cell populations: IgM+CD8α⁻ cells and IgM+CD8α+ cells. Further characterization of the IgM+CD8α⁻ population by RT-PCR demonstrated that the cells expressed secretory-type IgM as well as Bcl-6 and Blimp-1, developmental marker genes for the B cell lineage. Western blotting also showed that the cells secreted IgM protein. These results indicate that the IgM+CD8α⁻ cells are similar to cells at the plasmablast stage in mammals. This is the first report isolating plasmablast-like leukocytes in fish species. Our data also suggests that the teleosts kidney is a organ where B cells terminally differentiate into the plasma cells.
authors.affiliation: School of Marine Biosciences, Kitasato University, Sanriku, Ofunato, Iwate 022-0101, Japan. mf05002b@st.kitasato-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Tomoyuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Odaka
authors.forename: Shigeyuki
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tsutsui
authors.forename: Ryuichi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sugamata
authors.forename: Hiroaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Suetake
authors.forename: Toshiaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Miyadai
authors.forename: Yuzuru
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: Tasuku
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.forename: Osamu
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Nakamura
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016827:CD8 Antigens / Q000378:metabolism; D017077:Culture Media, Conditioned / Q000737:chemistry; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D007075:Immunoglobulin M / Q000378:metabolism; D007668:Kidney / Q000166:cytology*; D007962:Leukocytes / Q000166:cytology*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D023741:Takifugu / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D016827:CD8 Antigens; C409469:CD8 antigen, alpha chain; D017077:Culture Media, Conditioned; D007075:Immunoglobulin M