Interaction of immunoactive monokines (interleukin 1 and tumor necrosis factor) in the bivalve mollusc Mytilus edulis.

Mytilus edulis has been the subject of recent studies to determine whether the relationship between the immune and neuroendocrine systems seen in vertebrates also exists in invertebrates. The effects of mammalian monokines were studied in Mytilus immunocytes previously shown to produce and react to opioid peptides. These invertebrate cells respond to interleukin 1 (IL-1) and tumor necrosis factor (TNF), both in vitro and in vivo, in a manner similar to that of human granulocytes. As in the mammalian monokine network, the effect of IL-1 on the immunocytes is brought about, at least in part, by its stimulatory effect on the formation of TNF. In addition, the presence of immunoreactive IL-1 and TNF in Mytilus hemolymph was demonstrated. IMAGES:

紫贻贝（Mytilus edulis）是近期多项研究的焦点，这些研究旨在探明脊椎动物中已被证实存在的免疫与神经内分泌系统之间的关联，是否同样存在于无脊椎动物体内。本研究以此前已被证实可产生阿片肽（opioid peptides）并对其产生响应的紫贻贝免疫细胞为模型，探究了哺乳动物单核因子（monokines）对这类无脊椎动物免疫细胞的作用。实验结果表明，这类无脊椎动物细胞在体外与体内环境中，对白细胞介素1（Interleukin 1, IL-1）和肿瘤坏死因子（Tumor Necrosis Factor, TNF）的响应模式与人类粒细胞（granulocytes）高度相似。与哺乳动物单核因子网络的调控机制一致，白细胞介素1对紫贻贝免疫细胞的作用至少部分是通过其促进肿瘤坏死因子生成的刺激效应实现的。此外，本研究还证实，紫贻贝血淋巴（hemolymph）中存在具有免疫反应性的白细胞介素1与肿瘤坏死因子。图像资料：