The lesser spotted dogfish, <i>Scyliorhinus canicula</i> was found to be capable of mounting a vigorous specific humoral response to the soluble immunogen bovine serum albumin in Freund's complete or incomplete adjuvants. The kinetics of the humoral response to all doses of bovine serum albumin were determined. Antibody levels peaked at ca. 15 weeks and were then maintained at a plateau level until the experiment was terminated (at 38/39 weeks). An investigation of the reticulo-endothelial system of the dogfish was conducted by monitoring the clearance of intravascularly injected materials from the circulation. Macrophages of the ellipsoids and red pulp of the spleen, fixed cells in an expanded area of the branchial arterial system of the gills, known as the cavernous body, and cells in the liver, some probably homologous to mammalian Kupffer cells, were principally responsible for the sequestration of the injected materials. Peripheral blood monocytes and thrombocytes were also found to partake in the clearance of materials. Significant changes in the relative counts of blood leucocytes concomitant with injection of these materials was noted. The chemotactic/chemokinetic potential of dogfish granulocytes was investigated using the migration under agarose and bipolar shape formation assays. In the former assay eosinophilic G1 and G3 granulocytes were tested against a range of known chemotactic agents (including synthetic formyl peptides, bacterial culture filtrates, eosinophil chemotactic factor of anaphylaxis and complement fragments), but none of these factors appeared capable of inducing either chemotaxis or chemokinesis. In the bipolar shape formation assay, neither granulocyte type responded to complement fragments or formyl peptides. However, leukotriene B<SUB>4</SUB>, a potent chemotactic factor for mammalian leucocytes, was found to induce chemotaxis/chemokinesis of G1 granulocytes in the migration under agarose assay, and bipolar shape formation of both G1 and G3 granulocytes in the bipolar shape formation assay.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:637350 |
| Date | January 1987 |
| Creators | Hunt, T. C. |
| Publisher | Swansea University |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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