Rapid recovery of sensory function in blind cave fish treated with anemone repair proteins

• Published in: Hearing research Vol. 174; no. 1; pp. 296 - 304
• Main Authors: Berg, Astrid, Watson, Glen M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 01.12.2002; Elsevier
• Subjects: Adenosine Triphosphate - pharmacology; Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Blindness - physiopathology; Calcium - analysis; Cellular Senescence - physiology; Drug Synergism; Fishes - physiology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Hair cell; Hair Cells, Auditory - drug effects; Hair Cells, Auditory - physiopathology; Neuromast; Orientation - drug effects; Proteins - pharmacology; Receptors, Purinergic P2 - metabolism; Receptors, Purinergic P2X4; Recovery of Function; Rheology; Rheotaxis; Sea Anemones - metabolism; Somesthesis and somesthetic pathways (proprioception, exteroception, nociception); interoception; electrolocation. Sensory receptors; Tip link; Vertebrates: nervous system and sense organs; Water - chemistry; Rheotaxis; Neuromast; Hair cell; Tip link; Calcium; Ciliated cell; Haliplanella luciae; Acousticolateralis system; Recovery; Protein; Coelenterata; Vertebrata; Lateral line; Purinergic receptor; Pisces; Cnidaria; Invertebrata; ATP
• ISSN: 0378-5955; 1878-5891
• DOI: 10.1016/S0378-5955(02)00705-0

Blind cave fish employ superficial neuromasts to detect currents [Baker, C.F. and J.C. Montgomery, J. Comp. Physiol. A 184 (1999) 519–527]. Briefly exposing fish to calcium-free water significantly reduces the ability of the fish to perform rheotaxis (i.e., to orient properly in currents). Spontaneous recovery to control levels of rheotaxis requires 9 days. However, if the fish are treated with fraction β immediately after exposure to calcium-free water, recovery to control levels of rheotaxis occurs within 1.3 h, the first time point tested. Fraction β is a chromatographic fraction of ‘repair proteins’ isolated from sea anemones. The benefits of fraction β on restoring rheotaxis exhibit dose dependency with the minimum effective dose estimated at 1 ng/ml. Exogenously supplied ATP augments the efficacy of fraction β. Such augmentation is abolished by PPADS, an inhibitor of purinoceptors. Immunocytochemistry confirms the presence of purinoceptors in superficial neuromasts. The present results suggest that ‘repair proteins’ obtained from anemones significantly augment intrinsic repair mechanisms in fish. Furthermore, the data obtained in the fish system strongly parallel our previously published findings on sea anemones, raising the possibility that mechanisms of hair bundle repair may be evolutionarily conserved.