Meeting Abstract
The giant keyhole limpet Megathura crenulata, is a marine gastropod of commercial interest because its blood contains the respiratory pigment Keyhole Limpet Hemocyanin (KLH), which is the focus of clinical trials hoping to capitalize on its ability to stimulate our immune system to help fight cancer. We are using the giant keyhole limpet as a model marine gastropod to address the effectiveness of the skin and associated mucus layer in providing protection against microbial infections. By “skin” we refer to the simple columnar epithelium that covers the foot, the sidewall of the foot and the inner and outer surfaces of the mantle. We will present morphological descriptions of the cells making up the epithelium including ciliated cells (only abundant on the foot), pigmented cells (containing carotenoids on the foot and melanin in other locations), and secretory cells (both epithelial and sub-epithelial) which differ at each location. The lack of cilia at locations other than the foot indicates that the mucus layer does not behave like the mucus involved in airway clearance in vertebrates. The variety of secretory cells and differences in the physical properties of the released mucus on the foot and other regions is reflected in different abilities of the mucus to bind foreign bacteria and other foreign particles.
