title: Galectins in the abdominal cavity of the conger eel Conger myriaster participate in the cellular encapsulation of parasitic nematodes by host cells.
abstract: Congerin is a proto-type galectin distributed on the skin and mucosal epithelia of the upper digestive tract of the Japanese conger eel Conger myriaster. It has at least 2 isotypes, namely, congerin I and II, and plays a role in bio-defense at the body surface. In the current study, we identified both isotypes in the peritoneal fluid and peritoneal cells of C. myriaster by western blot and mass spectrometry (MS)/MS analysis. Cucullanus nematodes parasitize the abdominal cavity of C. myriaster, and immunohistochemical analyses demonstrated that congerins can bind to both the body surface of the encapsulated nematodes and the encapsulating cells. Furthermore, adhesion of the peritoneal cells to Sepharose particles was greatly accelerated when the microspheres were coated with congerin. Indeed, this effect was significantly hampered by the addition of lactose. These results indicate that congerin participates in the cellular encapsulation of the Cucullanus nematode via the induction of cellular adhesion to the parasites depending on lectin-glycoside recognition.
authors: School of Marine Biosciences, Kitasato University, Minami-ku, Sagamihara, Kanagawa 252-0373, Japan. naosamu@kitasato-u.ac.jp
authors: Osamu
authors: O
authors: Nakamura
authors: Mizuki
authors: M
authors: Watanabe
authors: Tomohisa
authors: T
authors: Ogawa
authors: Koji
authors: K
authors: Muramoto
authors: Kazuo
authors: K
authors: Ogawa
authors: Shigeyuki
authors: S
authors: Tsutsui
authors: Hisao
authors: H
authors: Kamiya
mesh_terms: D034841:Abdominal Cavity / Q000469:parasitology*; D000818:Animals; D017162:Ascaridida / Q000276:immunology / Q000502:physiology; D017191:Ascaridida Infections / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000662:veterinary*; D001202:Ascitic Fluid / Q000276:immunology / Q000469:parasitology; D015153:Blotting, Western / Q000662:veterinary; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D004524:Eels / Q000276:immunology* / Q000469:parasitology; D005393:Fish Diseases / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D029941:Fish Proteins / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D037161:Galectins / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D007150:Immunohistochemistry / Q000662:veterinary; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000276:immunology / Q000469:parasitology; D007785:Lactose / Q000378:metabolism; D053719:Tandem Mass Spectrometry / Q000662:veterinary
chemical_list: D029941:Fish Proteins; D037161:Galectins; C074516:congerin protein, Conger myriaster; D007785:Lactose