The interleukin 1 (IL-1) system in the uteroplacental complex of a cartilaginous fish, the smoothhound shark, Mustelus c
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The interleukin 1 (IL-1) system in the uteroplacental complex of a cartilaginous fish, the smoothhound shark, Mustelus canis Chiara Cateni1, Luana Paulesu*1, Elisa Bigliardi2 and William C Hamlett3 Address: 1Department of Physiology, University of Siena, Siena, Italy, 2Department of Evolutionary Biology, University of Siena, Siena, Italy and 3Department of Anatomy & Cell Biology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Notre Dame, Indiana, USA Email: Chiara Cateni - [email protected]; Luana Paulesu* - [email protected]; Elisa Bigliardi - [email protected]; William C Hamlett - [email protected] * Corresponding author
Published: 14 February 2003 Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology 2003, 1:25
Received: 3 February 2003 Accepted: 14 February 2003
This article is available from: http://www.RBEj.com/content/1/1/25 © 2003 Cateni et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article: verbatim copying and redistribution of this article are permitted in all media for any purpose, provided this notice is preserved along with the article's original URL.
cytokinesplacentafishimmunohistochemistrycomparative study
Abstract Cartilaginous fish are the oldest extant jawed vertebrates and the oldest line to have placentae. Their pivotal evolutionary position makes them attractive models to investigate the mechanisms involved in the maternal-fetal interaction. This study describes the tissue expression of the cytokine interlukin-1 (IL-1) α, IL-1 β and its specific membrane receptor, IL-1 receptor type I (IL-1R tI) in a placental cartilaginous fish, the smoothhound shark, Mustelus canis. The presence of this cytokine has been reported in many mammalian placentae, as well as in the placenta of a squamate reptile and this study extends these observations to the cartilaginous fishes. The uteroplacental complex in M. canis consists of a yolk sac modified into a functional yolk sac placenta and complimentary uterine attachment sites. Immunohistochemistry for IL-1 α, IL-1 β and the receptor reveals leucocytes of both the mother and fetus to be positive, as well as the apical aspect of paraplacental cells and the apical vesicles in the umbilical cord epithelium. Yolk sac endoderm is also positive with all the stains while the ectoderm is positive only for IL-1 α. Immunoreactivity in the uterine epithelium was obtained for IL-1 α and the receptor. The egg envelope is always negative. In light of the recent finding of IL-1 β gene in a cartilaginous fish and of the high level of conservation of proteins implicated in IL-1 action, our data suggest that IL-1 system is a key mediator of the materno-fetal interaction since the oldest extant placental vertebrates.
Background Viviparity is a widespread reproductive mode among vertebrates, involving retention of the embryo within the female reproductive tract and giving birth to living young. Viviparity may involve the formation of a placenta, a structure formed by the apposition of extra-embryonic membranes and maternal tissues [1]. Among vertebrate
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