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Immunohistochemical characterisation of the adult Nothobranchius furzeri intestine

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Abstract

Nothobranchius furzeri is emerging as an exciting vertebrate organism in the field of biomedicine, developmental biology and ecotoxicology research. Its short generation time, compressed lifespan and accelerated ageing make it a versatile model for longitudinal studies with high traceability. Although in recent years the use of this model has increased enormously, there is still little information on the anatomy, morphology and histology of its main organs. In this paper, we present a description of the digestive system of N. furzeri, with emphasis on the intestine. We note that the general architecture of the intestinal tissue is shared with other vertebrates, and includes a folding mucosa, an outer muscle layer and a myenteric plexus. By immunohistochemical analysis, we reveal that the mucosa harbours the same type of epithelial cells observed in mammals, including enterocytes, goblet cells and enteroendocrine cells, and that the myenteric neurons express neurotransmitters common to other species, such as serotonin, substance P and tyrosine hydroxylase. In addition, we detect the presence of a proliferative compartment at the base of the intestinal folds. The description of the normal intestinal morphology provided here constitutes a baseline information to contrast with tissue alterations in future lines of research assessing pathologies, ageing-related diseases or damage caused by toxic agents.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the support of the annual killifish facility of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Chile, jointly funded by the Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Center for Geroscience, Brain Health and Metabolism, and Biomedical Neuroscience Institute. We also thank Mercédes López and Fabiola Osorio for kindly providing the CD3 and CD4 antibodies, and Manuel Varas-Godoy for sharing EdU reagents.

Funding

This work was funded by the following projects of the Chilean National Agency for Research and Development (ANID): ICM P09-015F and ICN09_015, FONDAP 15150012, PIA/ ACT192015. DBM is supported by grant # 2021/06287-6, São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP). Also, we thank U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research FA9550-21-1-0096, Department of Defence grant W81XWH2110960, ANID/FONDEF ID1ID22I10120, and ANID/NAM22I0057 and Swiss Consolidation Grant -The Leading House for the Latin American Region (CH). ANID/FONDECYT1220573 (CH).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Integrative Biology Program, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile

    Janina Borgonovo, Camilo Allende-Castro, Deyanira Cárdenas, María Paz Cuevas & Miguel L. Concha

  2. Biomedical Neuroscience Institute, Santiago, Chile

    Janina Borgonovo, Camilo Allende-Castro, Danilo B. Medinas, Claudio Hetz & Miguel L. Concha

  3. Center for Geroscience, Brain Health and Metabolism, Santiago, Chile

    Janina Borgonovo, Camilo Allende-Castro, Danilo B. Medinas, Deyanira Cárdenas, María Paz Cuevas, Claudio Hetz & Miguel L. Concha

  4. Cellular and Molecular Biology Program, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile

    Danilo B. Medinas & Claudio Hetz

  5. Department of Biochemistry, Institute of Chemistry, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

    Danilo B. Medinas

  6. Medical Technology School, Faculty of Medicine, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile

    Deyanira Cárdenas & María Paz Cuevas

  7. Buck Institute for Research on Aging, Novato, CA, USA

    Claudio Hetz

Authors
  1. Janina Borgonovo
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  2. Camilo Allende-Castro
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  3. Danilo B. Medinas
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  4. Deyanira Cárdenas
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  5. María Paz Cuevas
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  6. Claudio Hetz
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  7. Miguel L. Concha
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Miguel L. Concha.

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Ethics approval

The animal study was reviewed and approved by Bioethics Committee of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Chile (CICUA certificate number: 20385-MED-UCH).

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Borgonovo, J., Allende-Castro, C., Medinas, D.B. et al. Immunohistochemical characterisation of the adult Nothobranchius furzeri intestine. Cell Tissue Res 395, 21–38 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00441-023-03845-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00441-023-03845-8

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