Ultrastructure and Immunocytochemistry of the Islet Organ of Osteoglossomorpha (Teleostei)

Abstract

Both routine electron microscopy and immunocytochemistry with protein A–gold were used to identify the cell types within the islet organs of four species of teleosts (Osteoglossum bicirrhosum, Pantodon buchholzi, Notopterus chitala, and Gnathonemus petersii) within Osteoglossomorpha, a subdivision with an ancient lineage. Four primary endocrine cell types, A, B, D, and F, were identified within the islets of the four species examined. The B- and D-cells were located mainly in the central core of the islet in the four species. In general, the A-cells were located at the islet periphery in all of the four species but in P. buchholzi and N. chitala they were also differently distributed toward the islet core. F-cells were present only at the islet periphery. Granules of B-cells in three species had a relatively homogeneous shape of the matrix core, but in O. bicirrhosum, the shape varied greatly. Variation in matrix shape of B-cell granules may indicate a different conformation of insulin molecules among at least some species of osteoglossomorphs, and this observation may have some taxonomic significance. Two somatostatin-containing (SST) D-cell types (D1 and DX) with granules of different shape were observed in all four species of osteoglossomorphs. The granules of the two D-cells immunostained either with anti-SST-25 and anti-SST-14 (D1-cells) or with anti-SST-34 (DX-cells). Immunocytochemistry confirmed that A-cells, containing glucagon-family peptides, and F-cells, containing peptides of the pancreatic polypeptide family, had granules of different shape. The cells of the islet organs of these osteoglossomorphs are more similar to those in more derived teleosts than they are to those of nonteleost actinopterygians.