Functional Adaptations of Hemocytes of Aplysia depilans (Gmelin, 1791) and Their Putative Role in Neuronal Regeneration

Abstract

Invertebrates show great diversity in their responses to neural damage. Numerous invertebrate phyla, including gastropods, can replace all or a portion of their nervous systems. Aplysia species have been utilized extensively in toxicology, ecology, and neuroscience because their neurological systems react to bodily harm by releasing trophic substances that can stimulate non-neural tissue regeneration and induce changes in the nervous system. This study aims to assess the putative role of hemocytes of Aplysia depilans (Gmelin, 1791) by analyzing the presence of Toll-like receptor 2, inducible nitric oxide synthetase, and, in particular, vimentin and α-tubulin, molecules potentially implicated in the process of neural regeneration. The results demonstrate that all the aforementioned proteins are present in hemocytes, suggesting their role in the defense response and their possible contribution to the neuronal regeneration process of this gastropod. These data provide deeper insight into the internal defense system of this mollusk.

Exploring the Internal Defense System of Cerastoderma glaucum (Bruguière, 1789) Exposed to Pristine Microplastics: The Sentinel Role of Haemocytes as Biomarkers

“…This diversification of immunoreactive haemocytes may suggest different cellular competence. Based on the receptors on their surface, haemocytes were evaluated for their phagocytic and cytotoxic role in previous studies [38,39,93,94]. The increased number of TLR2-immunopositive haemocytes could indicate increased phagocytic activity of these cells, TLR2 being a crucial receptor involved in cell recognition and modulating phagocytosis [95][96][97].…”