title: First detection of taste buds in a chimaeroid fish (Chondrichthyes: Holocephali) and their Gαi-like immunoreactivity.
abstract: The mucosa covering the tongue of the Chimaera monstrosa has been investigated with histological and immunohistochemical methods allowing to describe, for the first time, gustatory structures (taste buds) in this subclass of cartilaginous fish. G-protein-alpha-subunit-inhibitory-like (Gαi-like) immunoreactivity has been detected in the taste buds of C. monstrosa, as described in other vertebrates. In order to gain confidence on the antiserum used, able to recognize three Gαi proteins in mammals, alignments of the antigenic sequence in mammals and other vertebrates were performed. The data were used for a research of putative genes in the genome of the holocephalan Callorhinchus milii, to date the only cartilaginous fish with a sequenced genome; the highlighted sequences could suggest the presence of all three genes (gnai1, gnai2 and gnai3) in holocephalans. The sequences of the predicted proteins present a high identity with the mammalian proteins.
authors.affiliation: DipTeRis, University of Genoa, Viale Benedetto XV 5, I-16132 Genoa, Italy. sara131274@gmail.com
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ferrando
authors.forename: Lorenzo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gallus
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gambardella
authors.forename: Maria Angela
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Masini
authors.forename: Alessia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cutolo
authors.forename: Marino
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vacchi
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D004848:Epithelium / Q000294:innervation / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D005399:Fishes / Q000502:physiology*; D019206:GTP-Binding Protein alpha Subunits, Gi-Go / Q000378:metabolism*; D016678:Genome; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D013650:Taste Buds / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D014059:Tongue / Q000294:innervation / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D019206:GTP-Binding Protein alpha Subunits, Gi-Go