Skip to main content
Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences: CMLS logoLink to Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences: CMLS
. 2004 May;61(11):1331–1340. doi: 10.1007/s00018-004-4068-1

The tumor necrosis factor α of the bony fish seabream exhibits the in vivo proinflammatory and proliferative activities of its mammalian counterparts, yet it functions in a species-specific manner

J García-Castillo 1, E Chaves-Pozo 1, P Olivares 1, P Pelegín 1, J Meseguer 1, V Mulero 1,
PMCID: PMC11146020  PMID: 15170511

Abstract

Information on the bioactivities of non-mammalian cytokines is scant due to the lack of the recombinant molecules and specific antibodies. We produced the mature predicted peptide of tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα) from the bony fish gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata L.) (sbTNFα), and its biological role was determined in vitro and in vivo. We first demonstrated by analytical size-exclusion chromatography that sbTNFα is an oligomeric protein but the dimer appears to predominate over the trimeric form, in contrast to mammalian TNFα. Intraperitoneal injection of native sbTNFα resulted in (i) priming of the respiratory burst of the peritoneal exudate and head-kidney (HK) leukocytes, the latter being the bone marrow equivalent in fish; (ii) rapid recruitment of phagocytic granulocytes to the injection site, and (iii) induction of granulopoiesis in the HK. Interestingly, sbTNFα was able to induce a strong proliferation of HK cells in vitro, whereas human TNFα did not. Conversely, sbTNFα was not cytotoxic for murine L929 fibroblasts.

Keywords: Cytokine, TNFα, inflammation, evolution, fish

Footnotes

Received 12 February 2004; received after revision 15 March 2004; accepted 29 March 2004


Articles from Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences: CMLS are provided here courtesy of Springer

RESOURCES