Bio-plastic recognition by mussels hemocytes

The growing use of bio-polymers derivatives poses an increasingly pressing problem regarding their environmental sustainability. In particular, it should be still ascertained the claimed absence of direct and indirect influence on ecosystems and the health of living organisms, including humans. Our goal was about assessing the potential effects of poly-lactates and polyhydroxyalkanoates, the most widely used bio polymers classes with promising different applications for replacing conventional plastics on natural aquatic environments. We chose M. galloprovincialis as sentinel species since their extensive filter-feeding activity. When it is exposed to microparticles can bioaccumulate them in…

Tentacles regeneration in Anemonia viridis (Anthozoa, Cnidaria).

Multi-level responses of Mytilus galloprovincialis to environmental stressors

The multiple potentialities of anthozoans: analyses and comparisons between animal models

Anthozoans are the richest class of species of the phylum Cnidaria. They are a candidate group for studying the evolution of mutualisms and immunity and despite their morphological simplicity exhibit a repertoire of immunological components with large genomes and gene families similar to those of the Bilateria. Like other invertebrates, anthozoans immunity is based on self/non-self recognition mechanisms and allorecognition responses, therefore, maintaining their integrity and responding actively to selection pressures. Highlight and investigate the link between innate immunity, homeostasis maintenance, inflammation, tissue remodelling and regeneration in Anthozoa could be useful to elucida…

Inflammatory reaction and isolation of multifunctional bioactive molecules in cnidarians: from Immunobiology to Blue Biotechnology

The phylum of Cnidaria is one of the first branches in the tree of animal life to provide crucial insights on the evolution of immunity. Cnidarians are diblastic aquatic animals with radial symmetry and they are the simplest multicellular organisms that have reached the level of tissue organization. The renewed interest in the study of immunity in Cnidaria has led to additional information to the scenario of the first stages of immunity evolution revealing the cellular processes involved in symbiosis, in the regulation of homeostasis and in the fight against infections. We investigated the inflammatory response in Cnidarian following injection of various substances different in type and dim…

Actinins as novel broad-spectrum AMP isolated from the tentacle of Anthozoan Actinia equina (Linnaeus, 1758)

Capturing activities and defense mechanisms of Cnidarian are strongly associated with toxins and peptide with antimicrobial properties. AMP are an important component of many organisms’ innate immune system with a good inhibitory or killing effect against invaders pathogens. We investigated the AMP activity of acid extracts obtained from tentacle and body of Actinia equina (Cnidaria, Anthozoa) against Gram positive (Micrococcus lysodeikticus) and Gram negative (Escherichia coli, Vibrio alginolyticus) bacteria. The peptide fractions showed interesting minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) values (concentrations up to 0.125 μg/ml) against tested pathogens. Tentacle acid extracts exhibiting …

The Mediterranean anthozoan Anemonia viridis (Forsskål, 1775) for the study of inflammation and regeneration

Regenerative capability in anthozoans is an important adaptive strategy for their survival to environmental disturbance of natural and anthropogenic origin such as predation or anchoring, that can cause injuries or removal of entire parts of the animal body, and it can be also considered indirectly a further tool of innate immune system. In the context of “self”-“non self” recognition, is significant the interaction with the endosymbiont of the genus Symbiodinium and the recognition of pathogens and foreign agents capable of invading the injured tissues. From these premises and the growing stressors that can cause injuries, it is significant to understand how species respond to physical dam…

Mucosal immunity response of European eel (Anguilla anguilla L.) after bacterial infections

F-type lectin from serum of Trematomus bernacchii (Boulenger, 1902): purification, characterization and bacterial agglutinating activity

Basic approach of inflammation, injury and regeneration in Anemonia viridis

The potential for tissue regeneration is a powerful adaptive strategy essential to the survival of individuals. It allows to face wounds or loss of body parts induced by predation, anthropic actions or environmental factors. In light of the high probability of increasing levels of disturbances caused by injuries and the increasing possibility of invasion of microbes and foreign agents in the tissues of anthozoans, it is crucial to determine how the species respond to wounds and physical damage and understand the capacity of recovering and tissues regeneration. From this point of view, the regeneration capacity of Anthozoa it could be considered an additional arm of innate immune defence and…