Corals Use Similar Immune Cells and Wound-Healing Processes as Those of Higher Organisms
Open Access
- 24 August 2011
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Public Library of Science (PLoS) in PLOS ONE
- Vol. 6 (8), e23992
- https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0023992
Abstract
Sessile animals, like corals, frequently suffer physical injury from a variety of sources, thus wound-healing mechanisms that restore tissue integrity and prevent infection are vitally important for defence. Despite the ecological importance of reef-building corals, little is known about the cells and processes involved in wound healing in this group or in phylogenetically basal metazoans in general. A histological investigation into wound healing of the scleractinian coral Porites cylindrica at 0 h, 6 h, 24 h and 48 h after injury revealed differences in cellular components between injured and healthy tissues. Cell counts of the obligate endosymbiont, Symbiodinium, and melanin volume fraction analysis revealed rapid declines in both Symbiodinium abundance and tissue cross-sectional area occupied by melanin-containing granular cells after injury. Four phases of wound healing were identified, which are similar to phases described for both vertebrates and invertebrates. The four phases included (i) plug formation via the degranulation of melanin-containing granular cells; (ii) immune cell infiltration (inflammation); (iii) granular tissue formation (proliferation); and (iv) maturation. This study provides detailed documentation of the processes involved in scleractinian wound healing for the first time and further elucidates the roles of previously-described immune cells, such as fibroblasts. These results demonstrate the conservation of wound healing processes from anthozoans to humans.Keywords
This publication has 58 references indexed in Scilit:
- The Wound Healing Process: An Overview of the Cellular and Molecular MechanismsJournal of International Medical Research, 2009
- Wound healing and arm regeneration in Ophioderma longicaudum and Amphiura filiformis (Ophiuroidea, Echinodermata): comparative morphogenesis and histogenesisZoomorphology, 2009
- Cellular Responses in Sea Fan Corals: Granular Amoebocytes React to Pathogen and Climate StressorsPLOS ONE, 2008
- Common cellular events occur during wound healing and organ regeneration in the sea cucumber Holothuria glaberrimaBMC Developmental Biology, 2007
- Apoptosis and autophagy as mechanisms of dinoflagellate symbiont release during cnidarian bleaching: every which way you loseProceedings Of The Royal Society B-Biological Sciences, 2007
- Cellular and Genetic Analysis of Wound Healing in Drosophila LarvaePLoS Biology, 2004
- Coagulation in arthropods: defence, wound closure and healingTrends in Immunology, 2004
- The Antimicrobial Properties of Melanocytes, Melanosomes and Melanin and the Evolution of Black SkinJournal of Theoretical Biology, 2001
- The Nature of Tissue Regeneration After Wounding in the Sea AnemoneCalliactis Parasitica(Couch)Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 1974
- Cutaneous wound healing in the sea cucumber, Thyone briareusJournal of Morphology, 1973