The coelomocytes of Caenorhabditis elegans are scavenger cells that continuously and nonspecifically endocytose fluid from the pseudocoelom (body cavity). Green fluorescent protein (GFP) secreted into the pseudocoelom from body wall muscle cells is endocytosed and degraded by coelomocytes. We show that toxin-mediated ablation of coelomocytes results in viable animals that fail to endocytose pse...

Mice treated with sea star factor (SSF), a protein extracted from sea star coelomocytes, became highly susceptible to infection with a normally sublethal dose of Listeria monocytogenes. This was in contrast to the expected result of increased resistance originally postulated because of the macrophage-activating properties of SSF. Enhanced susceptibility was seen when SSF was given from 96 h bef...

Common sea stars (Asterias rubens) are at risk of physiological stress and decline with projected shifts in oceanic conditions. This study assessed changes coelomic fluid (CF) blood gases, electrolytes, osmolality, coelomocyte counts adult common after exposure to stressors mimicking effects from climate change for 14 days, including decreased pH (−0.4 units, mean: 7.37), hypoxia (target dissol...

Sea urchins are long-living marine invertebrates with a complex innate immune system, which includes expanded families of receptors. A central gene family in sea encodes the Transformer (Trf) proteins. The Trf has been studied mainly purple urchin Strongylocentrotus purpuratus. Here, we explore this protein Mediterranean Paracentrotus lividus. PlTrf genes and predicted proteins highly diverse s...

Sea star wasting disease (SSWD) refers to a suite of poorly described non-specific clinical signs including abnormal posture, epidermal ulceration, and limb autotomy (sloughing) causing mortalities over 20 species sea stars subsequent ecological shifts throughout the northeastern Pacific. While SSWD is widely assumed be infectious, with environmental conditions facilitating progression, few dat...

Increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) has resulted in a change in seawater chemistry and lowering of pH, referred to as ocean acidification. Understanding how different organisms and processes respond to ocean acidification is vital to predict how marine ecosystems will be altered under future scenarios of continued environmental change. Regenerative processes involving biomineralization ...