FLOW CYTOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF CIRCULATING HEMOCYTES IN THE APPLE SNAIL Pomacea canaliculata

RODRIGUEZ, C; CUETO, J.A,; VEGA, I.A.; CASTRO VAZQUEZ, A

Mendoza

Congreso; XXXI Reunión Anual de la Sociedad de Biología de Cuyo; 2013

Sociedad de Biología de Cuyo

Morphological studies on gastropod hemocytes have revealed different cell types usually distinguished by their nuclear shape and location, nuclear/cytoplasmic ratio, emission of cytoplasmic extensions, and by the properties of cytoplasmic granules. Three different cell types can be distinguished in the freshwater snail Pomacea canaliculata: hyalinocytes, agranulocytes and granulocytes. Here we report flow cytometric analysis of circulating hemocytes in P. canaliculata. Cells from freshly withdrawn hemolymph were cytometrically sorted, Bouin-fixed and stained with hematoxylin and eosin to reveal the different cell types. The three different cell populations mentioned above could be separated and microscopically confirmed. Also, small and large acidic granules were shown in different cells using the acidotropic probe LysoTracker Red on freshly withdrawn hemolymph. These granules may correspond to L and R granules previously observed under electron microscopy in hyalinocytes and granulocytes, respectively. Fusion of R granules was promoted by surface contact activation and by bacterial exposure, perhaps preceding a kind of compound exocytosis.