The Hagfish Slime Gland: A Model System for Studying the Biology of Mucus

Downing, Stephen W.; Salo, Wilmar L.; Spitzer, Robert H.; Koch, Elizabeth A.

doi:10.1126/science.7302586

Cited by 54 publications

(52 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…A quantity of exudate from a slime gland (a) placed on to a spatula expands to form a column of mucus (b) within 10 seconds (with threads supporting the mucus mass). Drawn from photographs in the paper by Downing et al, (1991). Table of the roles of EPS exuded by multicellular organisms.…”

Section: Production and Function Of Eps In Unicellular Organismsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The utiquity and many roles of exopolymers (EPS) in aquatic systems

Wotton¹

2004

Sci. Mar.

116

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SUMMARY: Exopolymers (EPS) are produced by unicellular and multicellular organisms. They consist largely of polysaccharides that hydrate rapidly on contact with water and link to form gels. EPS have many uses: in attachment; in locomotion on substrata; as a protection against predators, pathogens and changes in physico-chemical conditions; as a means of overcoming the threat of dessication; in preventing abrasion; and in feeding. When free of organisms, some EPS form loosely associated polymer gels that are important in the development of organic matter aggregates. These aggregates, together with mucus-bound faecal pellets, play an essential role in nutrient cycling, and in the metabolism of ecosystems.Key words: EPS, exopolymers, mucus, unicellular organisms, multicellular organisms, fibrils, flocs, aggregates. RESUMEN: UBICUIDAD Y FUNCIONES DIVERSAS DE LOS EXOPOLÍMEROS (EPS) EN LOS SISTEMAS ACUÁTICOS. -Los exopolímeros (EPS)son producidos por organismos unicelulares y pluricelulares. Están constituidos fundamentalmente por polisacáridos que se hidratan rápidamente en contacto con el agua y se unen para formar geles. Los EPS tienen muchos usos; en la fijación; en la locomoción sobre sustratos; como protección contra los depredadores, los patógenos y los cambios en la condiciones fisicoquímicas; como una manera de contrarrestar el peligro de la desecación; para evitar la abrasión, y en la alimentación. Cuando se hallan libres de organismos, algunos EPS forman geles de polímeros asociados de manera laxa que son importantes para el desarrollo de agregados de materia orgánica. Estos agregados, junto con los paquetes fecales cohesionados con mucus, desempeñan un papel esencial en el ciclado de los nutrientes y en el metabolismo de los ecosistemas.

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Section: Production and Function Of Eps In Unicellular Organismsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The utiquity and many roles of exopolymers (EPS) in aquatic systems

Wotton¹

2004

Sci. Mar.

116

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“…Stabilized slime was filtered to separate mucin vesicles from thread skeins, and samples of isolated vesicles were quantified and standardized using the linear relationship between vesicle number and absorbance (350 nm) (Downing et al, 1981).…”

Section: Animal Care and Sample Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Slime exudate samples were collected from anaesthetized hagfish as described in Herr et al (Herr et al, 2010), and were stored in a stabilization buffer {SB; 0.9 mol l −1 sodium citrate + 0.1 mol l −1 PIPES buffer [piperazine-N,N′-bis(ethanesulfonic acid)], pH 6.7} (Downing et al, 1981;Fudge et al, 2003). Stabilized slime was filtered to separate mucin vesicles from thread skeins, and samples of isolated vesicles were quantified and standardized using the linear relationship between vesicle number and absorbance (350 nm) (Downing et al, 1981).…”

Section: Animal Care and Sample Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Defensive slime formation in Pacific hagfish requires Ca2+ and aquaporin mediated swelling of released mucin vesicles

Herr

Clifford

Goss

et al. 2014

Journal of Experimental Biology

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Hagfishes defend themselves from fish predators via the rapid deployment of a fibrous slime that adheres to and clogs gills. The slime transforms from a thick glandular exudate to a fully hydrated product in a fraction of a second through a process that involves the swelling and rupture of numerous mucin vesicles. Here we demonstrate that the vesicle membrane plays an important role in regulating the swelling of mucin granules, and provide evidence that the membrane contains proteins that facilitate the movement of ions and water molecules. By exposing isolated mucin vesicles to varying combinations of inorganic ions, organic compounds and membrane channel inhibitors, we found that the majority of hagfish mucin vesicles require Ca 2+ to rupture. We also show that Ca 2+-dependent rupture can be pharmacologically inhibited, which suggests a role for Ca 2+ -activated membrane transporters. We demonstrate that the aquaporin inhibitor mercuric chloride reduces the rate of vesicle swelling by an order of magnitude, which suggests that aquaporins facilitate the influx of water during vesicle deployment. Molecular evidence of two aquaporin homologues expressed in the slime glands further supports this idea. We propose a model of hagfish slime mucin vesicle rupture that involves Ca 2+ -activated transporters and aquaporins, and suggest that the presence of these proteins is an adaptation for increasing the speed of vesicle rupture and, consequently, the speed of the sliming response of hagfishes.

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“…An agitated hagfish can release an enormous amount of slime from the numerous slime glands lining its body (Ferry, 1941;Strahan, 1959;Downing et al, 1981a;Martini, 1998). In a previous paper (Fudge et al, 2005), we demonstrated that hagfish slime is an extremely dilute assemblage of mucins and seawater held together by a network of fine protein threads.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hagfish slime ecomechanics: testing the gill-clogging hypothesis

Lim

Fudge

Levy

et al. 2006

Journal of Experimental Biology

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SUMMARY Hagfish are able to produce substantial amounts of slime when harassed, but the precise ecological function of the slime is unclear. One possibility is that the slime acts as a defence against gill-breathing predators, whose gills may become entangled with the slime's mixture of mucins and fibrous threads during an attack. We previously demonstrated that hagfish slime does not bind water tightly, but instead behaves like a fine sieve that slows water down via viscous entrainment. These properties are consistent with the gill-clogging hypothesis, which we tested here by quantifying the effects of hagfish slime on water flow through an artificial gill model and real fish gills. Our results indicate that the slime is capable of clogging gills and increasing the resistance that they present to the flow of water. We also characterized the behaviour of slime release from live hagfish and the effect of convective mixing on the formation of slime in vitro. Our observations show that exudate is locally released from the slime glands as a coherent jet and that hagfish do not appear to use their slime as a protective envelope. We found that convective mixing between the exudate and seawater is necessary for proper slime formation, but excessive mixing leads to the slime's collapse. We suggest that the loose binding of water by the slime may be an optimal solution to the problem of delivering an expanding jet of flow-inhibiting material to the gills of would-be predators.

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The Hagfish Slime Gland: A Model System for Studying the Biology of Mucus

Cited by 54 publications

References 7 publications

The utiquity and many roles of exopolymers (EPS) in aquatic systems

The utiquity and many roles of exopolymers (EPS) in aquatic systems

Defensive slime formation in Pacific hagfish requires Ca2+ and aquaporin mediated swelling of released mucin vesicles

Hagfish slime ecomechanics: testing the gill-clogging hypothesis

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