Dynamics of hemocyte subsets from ascidian Halocynthia aurantium in response to tissue damage: a comparative analysis of flow cytometry vs confocal microscopy data

Abstract

The current study was aimed at investigating the dynamics of circulatory ascidian hemocytesubsets from Halocynthia aurantium in response to tunic damage. By using flow cytometry and confocal microscopy, it was demonstrated that the relative amount of hemoblasts and hyaline amebocytes was increased 24 h after cutting ascidian tunic and subjacent muscle layer. By applying a broad panel of fluorescently labeled monoclonal antibodies against human adhesion molecules expressed by lymphoid and stem cells both assays allowed to detect two cross-reactive epitopes (CD54 and CD90) on the surface of ascidian hemocytes. Upon that, the expression of CD54-like epitope was found to be downregulated on ascidian cells after tissue damage, whereas binding to CD90-like epitope was upregulated in all examined cell subsets.