Meeting Abstract
While there is much interest in the biochemical and biophysical properties of hagfishes’ unique defensive slime, little is known about how long slime gland refilling takes, or how slime composition changes with refilling. The slime gland refilling process itself has yet to be examined, and while the mechanisms involved with release of the slime cells is understood, an examination of the exudate with successive stimulations of the slime gland has never been conducted. This study looked to characterize changes in the slime exudate during refilling, as well as with successive stimulations and emptying of the slime gland. Slime glands can be individually electro-stimulated to release slime, and this technique was utilized to conduct slime gland refilling trials. Slime gland refilling timelines were compared between two species, as well as between different body regions within a hagfish. Histological examination of empty and full slime glands was also conducted, and changes in the slime gland musculature was examined. The amount of exudate produced, composition of exudate, and morphometrics of slime cells were analyzed during refilling, as well as over emptying of full slime glands. Complete refilling of the slime glands was found to take three to four weeks in both species. There were also significant changes in the composition of exudate and morphometrics of slime cells during refilling. However, morphometrics did not significantly change with successive stimulations of full slime glands to exhaustion. Exhausted slime glands were found to still contain a small proportion of slime cells, and future studies should examine the cellular process of refilling within the slime glands via histological investigation.
