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Vol. 54, 2015
Anatomic and molecular characterization of the endocrine pancreas of a teleostean fish: Atlantic wolffish (Anarhichas lupus)
Jessica S Fortin1*, Ariane Santamaria-Bouvier2, Stéphane Lair2, André D Dallaire1 and Marie-Odile Benoit-Biancamano1*
1Département
de pathologie et de microbiologie, Faculté de médecine vétérinaire,
Université de Montréal, 3200 Sicotte, Saint-Hyacinthe, QC J2S
2M2,
Canada. 2Département des sciences cliniques, Faculté de médecine
vétérinaire, Université de Montréal, 3200 Sicotte, Saint-Hyacinthe, QC
J2S 2M2, Canada
Abstract
Background: The
biologic attributes of the endocrine pancreas and the comparative
endocrinology of islet amyloid polypeptide (IAPP) of fish are not well
described in the literature. This study describes the endocrine
pancreas of one teleostean fish. Ten captive Atlantic wolffish (Anarhichas lupus) from the Montreal Biodome were submitted for necropsy and their pancreata were collected.
Results: Grossly,
all the fish pancreata examined contained 1-3 nodules of variable
diameter (1-8 mm). Microscopically, the nodules were uniform, highly
cellular, and composed of polygonal to elongated cells.
Immunofluorescence for pancreatic hormones was performed. The nodules
were immunoreactive for insulin most prominent centrally, but with IAPP
and glucagon only in the periphery of the nodules. Exocrine pancreas
was positive for chromogranin A. Not previously recognized in fish,
IAPP immunoreactivity occurred in α, glucagon-containing, cells and did
not co-localize with insulin in β cells. The islet tissues were devoid
of amyloid deposits. IAPP DNA sequencing was performed to compare the
sequence among teleost fish and the potency to form amyloid fibrils. In
silico analysis of the amino acid sequences 19-34 revealed that it was
not amyloidogenic.
Conclusions: Amyloidosis
of pancreatic islets would not be expected as a spontaneous disease in
the Atlantic wolffish. Our study underlines that this teleost fish is a
potential candidate for pancreatic xenograft research.
Key words: Beta cells; Endocrine pancreas; Glucagon; Insulin; Islet amyloid polypeptide (IAPP); Teleost fish.
*Correspondence: E-mail: Jessica.fortin.2@umontreal.ca; marie-odile.benoit-biancamano@umontreal.ca
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