Characterization of mononuclear phagocytic cells in medaka fish transgenic for a cxcr3a:gfp reporter.

ABSTRACT: Chemokines and chemokine receptors are key evolutionary innovations of vertebrates. They are involved in morphogenetic processes and play an important role in the immune system. Based on an analysis of the chemokine receptor gene family in teleost genomes, and the expression patterns of chemokine receptor genes during embryogenesis and the wounding response in young larvae of Oryzias latipes, we identified the chemokine receptor cxcr3a as a marker of innate immune cells. Cells expressing cxcr3a were characterized in fish transgenic for a cxcr3a:gfp reporter. In embryos and larvae, cxcr3a-expressing cells are motile in healthy and damaged tissues, and phagocytic; the majority of these cells has the morphology of tissue macrophages, whereas a small fraction has a dendritic phenotype. In adul

SUBMITTER: Aghaallaei N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2964234 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature