Inhibition of Cell Recognition and Reaggregation by Chitin and Chitinase in the Sponge Microciona prolifera

Overview

Objectives/Goals Previous research has shown that chitin may have antigenic properties leading to bronchial constriction in mice exposed to chitin (Elias, et al. 2004). The study outlined below supports the hypothesis that chitin may act as an allergen that inhibits cell-cell recognition, leading to an immune response characteristic of Reactive Airway Disease (RAD). Methods/Materials Microciona prolifera, a marine sponge, was selected to demonstrate the inhibition of cell-cell recognition by chitin and chitinase as a function of reduced cell reaggregation. Cells were teased apart and diluted to a concentration of 1.8 x 107 cells per µL, and specified amounts of chitin and chitinase were added to each group. The inhibition of cell reaggregation was measured through the use of a hemocytometer. Results The most significant results yielded an 80.1 % reaggregation inhibition at a saturated chitin concentration of 1mg/15mLs. Interestingly chitinase (alone) also inhibited cell reaggregation by 79.2% at a saturated concentration of 1 unit per 15mLs. Curvilinear graphs were derived from the data for chitin and chitinase, and the graphs had reliability coefficients of 0.82 and 0.99 respectively. Conclusions/Discussion Ongoing experimentation using gel electrophoresis of surface proteins suggests that chitinase may be altering the structure of the surface proteins and their attached oligosaccharides and an alteration of surface proteins affects cell-cell recognition and cell reaggregation in M. prolifera. Although not present in normal individuals, exposure to chitin in genetically predisposed individuals may stimulate an upregulation in chitinase production and lead to an immune response such as asthma. Thus my results support the model that chitin-induced inhibition of cell-cell recognition may be related to an immune response and possibly Reactive Airway Disease.

Awards (1)

• Category Award

Competition history

• CSEF 2005 Zoology · Entry S1918

Resources

• CSEF project summary ↗

Related projects

Closest projects by meaning, across every fair and year in the corpus.

Browse more like this

• All Animal Sciences projects
• CSEF Animal Sciences projects
• Every CSEF 2005 project