Open AccessCharacterization of a Monoclonal Antibody Directed against Mytilus spp Larvae Reveals an Antigen Involved in Shell Biomineralization
Author(s) -
Juan Calvo-Iglesias,
Daniel Pérez-Estévez,
Silvia Lorenzo-Abalde,
Beatriz Sánchez-Correa,
María Isabel Quiroga,
José Fuentes,
África González-Fernández
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0152210
Subject(s) - mytilus , biology , antigen , mantle (geology) , hemolymph , monoclonal antibody , mussel , antibody , microbiology and biotechnology , immunology , ecology , paleontology
The M22.8 monoclonal antibody (mAb) developed against an antigen expressed at the mussel larval and postlarval stages of Mytilus galloprovincialis was studied on adult samples. Antigenic characterization by Western blot showed that the antigen MSP22.8 has a restricted distribution that includes mantle edge tissue, extrapallial fluid, extrapallial fluid hemocytes, and the shell organic matrix of adult samples. Other tissues such as central mantle, gonadal tissue, digestive gland, labial palps, foot, and byssal retractor muscle did not express the antigen. Immunohistochemistry assays identified MSP22.8 in cells located in the outer fold epithelium of the mantle edge up to the pallial line. Flow cytometry analysis showed that hemocytes from the extrapallial fluid also contain the antigen intracellularly. Furthermore, hemocytes from hemolymph have the ability to internalize the antigen when exposed to a cell-free extrapallial fluid solution. Our findings indicate that hemocytes could play an important role in the biomineralization process and, as a consequence, they have been included in a model of shell formation. This is the first report concerning a protein secreted by the mantle edge into the extrapallial space and how it becomes part of the shell matrix framework in M . galloprovincialis mussels.