The appearance and distribution of mature T and B cells in the developing immune tissues of the stripe‐faced dunnart (Sminthopsis macroura)

Abstract

This paper describes the initial appearance and distribution of mature T and B cells in the developing immune tissues of the stripe-faced dunnart ( Sminthopsis macroura ) based on the use of species cross-reactive antibodies to the lymphocyte cell surface markers CD3, CD5 and CD79b. At birth no mature T or B cells were detected in the liver or bone marrow using anti-CD3, anti-CD5 or anti-CD79b antibodies. T cells were detected in the thymus with anti-CD3 by day 12 and anti-CD5 by day 50 postpartum, and T cells in the spleen were detected by day 43 and day 80 postpartum using anti-CD3 and anti-CD5, respectively. B cells were observed in the dunnart spleen by 43 days after birth. CD3-and CD79b-positive cells were detected in the lymph nodes by 50 days and CD5 by day 15 after birth, and in the gut-associated lymphoid tissues by day 50 and anti-CD5 by day 57 postpartum. The development and distribution of T and B cells in the immune tissues of dunnart pouch young is similar to that described in other marsupial species. Low numbers or absence of mature lymphocytes in immune tissues of early pouch young dunnarts further support the proposition that young marsupials are reliant on non-specific defence strategies and/or maternal strategies for a significant period of their time of development in the pouch.

Dietary composition and nutritional outcomes in two marsupials,Sminthopsis macrouraandS. crassicaudata

“…Gastrointestinal morphology has been described in larger dasyurid species such as spotted-tailed quoll (Dasyurus maculatus), eastern quoll (D. viverrinus), kowari (Dasyuroides byrnei), brush-tailed phascogale (Phascogale tapoatafa), kultarr (Antechinomys laniger), and fat-tailed false antechinus (Pseudantechinus macdonnellensis -Mitchell 1905;Beddard 1908;Stannard and Old 2013). Previously, descriptions of the dunnart gastrointestinal tract have been limited to gross morphology and gut-associated lymphoid tissues (Mitchell 1916;Schultz 1976;Old et al 2003Old et al , 2004. Gross morphology and dimensions were described for the largest species in the Sminthopsis genus, the Julia Creek dunnart (Sminthopsis douglasi- Hume et al 2000).…”

A Histological and Immunohistochemical Analysis of Lymphoid Tissues of the Tasmanian Devil

“…However, there remains a lack of basic knowledge about the cellular components and histological architecture of the lymphoid organs of this species. Descriptions of the lymphoid tissues of four small Dasyurids, the brown and dusky antechinus (Antechinus swainsonii and A. stuartii), the stripe-faced dunnart (Sminthopsis macroura), and the red-tailed phascogale (Phascogale calura), have been published (Poskitt et al, 1984a,b,c;Old et al, 2003Old et al, , 2004Old et al, , 2006 and provide important data about this group. Basic information about the immune tissues of the Tasmanian devil, however, is required to better understand the adaptive immune response and its implications for the pathogenesis of DFTD.…”

On the prenatal initiation of T cell development in the opossum Monodelphis domestica

“…CD3ε + cells were not evident in Trichosurus vulpecula neonates until postnatal day 2 (Baker et al 1999). In the stripe-faced dunnart, Sminthopsis macroura , CD3ε + cells were observed in 12 days postcoital embryos, and though 1 day postnatal neonates were not tested for CD3 expression their thoracic thymus appeared to be composed mainly of stromal cells at birth (Old et al 2004a,b; Borthwick et al 2014). …”