A monoclonal antibody recognizing a complex tubular structure in rainbow trout pillar cells

Pillar cells are important to maintain the structural integrity of the fish gills. This study describes a new monoclonal antibody (mab 25) which detects a complex tubular structure of rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss gill pillar cells. This mab was selected and established after immunization of mice with density gradient separated trout mononuclear cells. In primary screening using a cell enzyme-linked immunoabsorbant assay (ELISA) the corresponding hybridoma supernatant reacted with viable and fixed trout leukocytes. In immunofluorescence analysis mab 25 showed a distinct reaction with a prominent snow chain like tubular structure in pillar cells. It consists of seven to 11 concave turned tubuli of about 5 μm length forming a circle of about 7 μm. Reactivity of mab 25 with fibrous structures was observed in cryostat sections of gill, pseudobranchia, spleen, striated muscle and heart muscle. mab 25 recognized a protein with a molecular weight of about 58 kDa as determined by radioimmunoprecipitation. This structure appears to be related to elements which have been described as membrane enclosed collagen columns by electronmicroscopic analysis and is reminiscent of patterns labelled with anti-human cytokeratin antibodies. mab 25 may be an important tool to study the impact of environmental and physiological conditions on the structural integrity of this complex structure in trout gill pillar cells.