Radford J L, Hutchinson A E, Burandt M, Raftos D A
Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, North Ryde, New South Wales, 2109, Australia.
J Invertebr Pathol. 2000 Nov;76(4):242-8. doi: 10.1006/jipa.2000.4979.
Tunicates are filter feeding marine invertebrates that are susceptible to environmental contamination by toxic metals and polyaromatic hydrocarbons. Recently, we have shown that tunicate immune reactions are profoundly affected by exposure to tributyltin (TBT) and copper, both of which are components of marine antifouling paints. This study tests the effects of those pollutants on the hemocytes of tunicates. Immunofluorescence labeling with an anti-hemocyte monoclonal antibody demonstrated that the antigenic structure of the circulating hemocyte population was substantially affected by TBT and copper. Antigen-positive hemocytes were also found to accumulate in the pharyngeal papillae of TBT-exposed tunicates. Histological analyses indicated that this cellular accumulation in pharyngeal papillae involved refractile vacuolated hemocytes. Refractile vacuolated cells from TBT-exposed tunicates also occurred at greater frequencies in the circulating hemolymph, and had altered morphologies, compared to cells from nontreated controls. These data confirm that exogenous metals can have profound effects on the hemocytes of tunicates.
被囊动物是滤食性海洋无脊椎动物，易受有毒金属和多环芳烃的环境污染。最近，我们发现被囊动物的免疫反应会受到三丁基锡（TBT）和铜的显著影响，这两种物质都是海洋防污漆的成分。本研究测试了这些污染物对被囊动物血细胞的影响。用抗血细胞单克隆抗体进行免疫荧光标记表明，循环血细胞群体的抗原结构受到TBT和铜的显著影响。在暴露于TBT的被囊动物的咽乳头中也发现了抗原阳性血细胞。组织学分析表明，咽乳头中的这种细胞积累涉及折光性空泡化血细胞。与未处理对照的细胞相比，暴露于TBT的被囊动物的折光性空泡化细胞在循环血淋巴中的出现频率也更高，并且形态发生了改变。这些数据证实，外源金属可对被囊动物的血细胞产生深远影响。
