Immunological properties and tissue localization of two different collagen types in annelid and vestimentifera species.

Rabbit antisera against cuticle and interstitial collagens from shallow sea water and hydrothermal vent annelids (Arenicola marina, and the pompeii worm Alvinella pompejana) and the vestimentiferan tube worm Riftia pachyptila showed a clear distinction between the two types of collagens, a broad cross-reactivity among the worm collagens and no reactions with various mammalian collagens. The antibodies reacted with various epitopes found on both triple helical and unfolded collagens. The cuticle collagens were localized by immunofluorescence to the outer surface of the epidermis and in annelids additionally to the anterior part of the digestive tract. The interstitial collagen was detected underneath the epidermis and between distinct muscle layers. Both collagens were also detected in the anterior obturaculum, a tissue unique to vestimentifera. They were located either in the periphery of the tissue (cuticle collagen) or in the central part (interstitial collagen), which appeared to be a large extracellular matrix. Both collagens, however, showed a different supramolecular organization in the obturaculum when compared to the posterior body wall collagens. The identity of the interstitial collagens from the two locations was verified by biochemical analysis. These data demonstrate a very special and rigid matrix structure in the obturaculum, which may adapt it to specific physiological functions.