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

Abstract

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 damage and how they manage to recover and regenerate compromised tissues. Our research team, studied in the Mediterranean anthozoan Anemonia viridis (Forsskål, 1775), the natural seasonal variability of its morphology and enzymatic biomarkers involved in inflammatory process, the immune system response following injection of molecules varied in type and dimension. In particular, after the infection of two pathogenic bacteria Escherichia coli and Vibrio alginolyticus a particular and strong reaction was observed. These previous knowledge allowed us to examine the activity of enzymes such as proteases (SDS-PAGE on gelatin and fibrinogen substrate), peroxidase and alkaline phosphatase as biomarkers traditionally involved in wound healing event and in the rearrangement of extracellular matrix. The regenerative process, in this Mediterranean species of anthozoan, was analyzed by subjecting groups of animals to differential tentacle cuts (n = 10, 20, 30) and observing and estimating the regenerative potential after 7, 14 and 21 days from cutting. A morphological and histological observation of the tentacular regrowth event was conducted in addition to the evaluation of the expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) using the immunoblotting technique. The future goal is to increase the knowledge of the processes that trigger the immune response in inflammation and regeneration, for the considerable interest in basic sciences and for the transferability of results in biotechnological field