[Frontiers in Bioscience 14, 141-149, January 1, 2009]

The immune system is involved in Xenopus metamorphosis

Yumi Izutsu

Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Niigata University, Niigata 950-2181, Japan

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Abstract
2. Introduction
3. Xenopus immune cells
4. Remodeling of immune cells during Xenopus metamorphosis
5. Tolerance induced in larvae but not adult Xenopus
6. Immune system involvement in Xenopus metamorphic tail regression
6.1. Skin cell remodeling during metamorphosis
6.2. Larval tail skin is rejected by the adult frog
6.3. Larval skin cells are recognized and killed by adult T cells
6.4. Isolation process and function of larval antigens recognized by the adult T cell
7. Summary
8. Acknowledgments
9. References

1. ABSTRACT

Amphibian metamorphosis provides a model to elucidate the mechanisms underlying how vertebrates reconstitute a body plan and how the immune system develops during ontogeny. In Xenopus, T cells are expanded from the early developmental stages just after hatching. These T cells switch from larval-type in an easily tolerizable state into an adult-type having a potent immune responsiveness comparable to that of mammals. During metamorphosis, tadpoles exhibit morphological changes in skin that completely transforms from larval-type to adult-type. Only tail tissue behaves differently; it remains a larval-type tissue until it disappears at the end of metamorphosis. Thus, at metamorphic climax, four different types of cells co-exist in a tadpole body: larval tissue cells; adult tissue cells; larval immune cells; and adult immune cells. Based on the results showing that tadpole tail skin is rejected by syngeneic adult, it is proposed that the elimination of the larval tissue cells by the adult T cells that occurs during metamorphosis is immunologically mediated. Recent results indicate that the antigenic proteins expressed in the metamorphosing skin cells participate in the process of tail regression. This chapter describes how animals adjust and survive through such crises associated with large scale replacement of entire body cells.