Identification of a pharyngeal mucosal lymphoid organ in zebrafish and other teleosts: Tonsils in fish?

Identification of a pharyngeal mucosal lymphoid organ in zebrafish and other teleosts: Tonsils in fish?

Science Advances

10.1126/sciadv.adj0101

http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adj0101

Julien Resseguier, Mai Nguyen-Chi, Jens Wohlmann, Dimitri Rigaudeau, Irene Salinas, Stefan H. Oehlers, Geert F. Wiegertjes, Finn-Eirik Johansen, Shuo-Wang Qiao, Erling O. Koppang, Bernard Verrier, Pierre Boudinot, Gareth Griffiths

Multidisciplinary

01 November 2023

Resseguier, J., Nguyen-Chi, M., Wohlmann, J., Rigaudeau, D., Salinas, I., Oehlers, S. H., Wiegertjes, G. F., Johansen, F.-E., Qiao, S.-W., Koppang, E. O., Verrier, B., Boudinot, P., & Griffiths, G. (2023). Identification of a pharyngeal mucosal lymphoid organ in zebrafish and other teleosts: Tonsils in fish? Science Advances, 9(44). https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adj0101

The constant exposure of the fish branchial cavity to aquatic pathogens causes local mucosal immune responses to be extremely important for their survival. Here, we used a marker for T lymphocytes/natural killer (NK) cells (ZAP70) and advanced imaging techniques to investigate the lymphoid architecture of the zebrafish branchial cavity. We identified a sub-pharyngeal lymphoid organ, which we tentatively named “Nemausean lymphoid organ” (NELO). NELO is enriched in T/NK cells, plasma/B cells, and antigen-presenting cells embedded in a network of reticulated epithelial cells. The presence of activated T cells and lymphocyte proliferation, but not V(D)J recombination or hematopoiesis, suggests that NELO is a secondary lymphoid organ. In response to infection, NELO displays structural changes including the formation of T/NK cell clusters. NELO and gill lymphoid tissues form a cohesive unit within a large mucosal lymphoid network. Collectively, we reveal an unreported mucosal lymphoid organ reminiscent of mammalian tonsils that evolved in multiple teleost fish families.

Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

This research is supported by core funding from: ID Labs
Grant Reference no. : Core

This work was supported by the Norwegian Research Council for funding (nos. 144642and329478). The Agence Nationale de la Recherche (France) (project ANR-21-CE35-0019) and by the ERANET project Nucnanofish (ANR-21-ICRD-0009). The U.S. Department of Agriculture/National Institute of Food and Agriculture grant 2019-05906.M.N.-C.was supported by the French Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR-19-CE15-0005-01,MacrophageDynamics).

https://oar.a-star.edu.sg/communities-collections/articles/19683

2375-2548

A*STAR Infectious Diseases Labs

https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adj0101