Abstract
Bronze corydoras (Corydoras aeneus) is a small diurnal activity fish from South America. Under hypoxia conditions, it uses the posterior part of the intestine as an accessory respiratory organ. The present PCR studies demonstrated higher expression of HIF-1α (hypoxia-inducible factor) gene in the respiratory than that in digestive part of bronze corydoras intestine. Further, immunolocalization studies using antibodies specific to HIF-1α and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) revealed the presence of HIF-1α epitopes in the intestine of Corydoras aeneus. In the respiratory intestine, the numerous clusters of gold particles visualizing HIF-1α antibody were observed within fibroblasts, whereas in the digestive tract of this species, single gold grains in the epithelial cells were noted. On the other hand, the presence of HIF-1α and the cytoplasmic domain of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) in the respiratory intestine of bronze corydoras assumes their interactions in the system where these factors appeared for the first time. The non-obligatory air-breathing fishes using their digestive tract as an accessory respiratory organ during hypoxia conditions are very interesting for the studies of the processes that control HIF-1α expression and squamous cell proliferation.
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Acknowledgments
The authors wish to thank Prof. Janusz Karasiński from the Institute of Zoology (Jagiellonian University) for all helpful suggestions in the analysis of TEM images. TEM observations were performed with the kind assistance of Szymon Suski at the Laboratory of Electron Microscopy, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, PAS, Warsaw, Poland. The authors wish to thank anonymous Reviewers for suggestions that have improved the manuscript significantly.
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L.S. conceived and designed the research project and wrote the manuscript. A.B-K. performed and analyzed the immunohistochemical reaction and wrote sections concerning the microscopic study. J.M. performed and analyzed the PCR reactions and wrote sections concerning this method.
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Satora, L., Mytych, J. & Bilska-Kos, A. The presence and expression of the HIF-1α in the respiratory intestine of the bronze Corydoras Corydoras aeneus (Callichthyidae Teleostei). Fish Physiol Biochem 44, 1291–1297 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10695-018-0520-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10695-018-0520-2