Effects of high temperature and exposure to air on mussel (Mytilus galloprovincialis, Lmk 1819) hemocyte phagocytosis: modulation of spreading and oxidative response.

Hemocytes are a critical component of the mussel defense system and the present study aimsat investigating their spreading and oxidative properties during phagocytosis under in vivoexperimental stress conditions. The spreading ability was measured by an automated cell analyzer onthe basis of the circularity, a parameter corresponding to the hemocyte roundness. The oxidativeactivity was investigated by micromethod assay, measuring the respiratory burst as expression of thefluorescence generated by the oxidation of specific probe. Following the application of hightemperature and exposure to air, there was evidence of negative modulation of spreading andoxidative response, as revealed by a cell roundness increase and fluorescence generation decrease.Therefore, the fall of respiratory burst appeared as matched with the inhibition of hemocytemorphological activation, suggesting a potential depression of the phagocytosis process andconfirming the application of the circularity parameter as potential stress marker, both inexperimental and field studies.[...]