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Fish Immunology, 5th Edition
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Fish Immunology, 5th Edition

A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Immunology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 September 2025 | Viewed by 3605

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Alberto Cuesta

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Cell Biology and Histology, Faculty of Biology, Campus Regional de Excelencia Internacional “Campus Mare Nostrum”, University of Murcia, 30100 Murcia, Spain
Interests: fish, immunology; virus, AMPs; toxicology; cell lines; vaccines; aquaculture; biotechnology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Elena Chaves-Pozo

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Centro Oceanográfico de Murcia (COMU-IEO), CSIC, Carretera de la Azohía s/n, Puerto de Mazarrón, 30860 Murcia, Spain
Interests: immune-reproductive responses; marine fish; viral transmission through the gonad; endocrine disruption
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue is a continuation of our previous Special Issue on “Fish Immunology: 4th Edition”. (https://www.mdpi.com/journal/ijms/special_issues/71VBK8520G).

A Special Issue on the topic of “Fish Immunology” is being launched by the International Journal of Molecular Sciences. Fish represent a fascinating research model in immunology, because they were the first group during animal evolution to have a complete and functional immune system comprising a diverse and interconnected array of both innate and acquired immune tissues, cells, and molecules. Apart from this, the spectacular growth of aquaculture production for human nutrition has attracted the focus of many researchers all over the world for practical and applied purposes. In addition, the implementation of zebrafish as a biomedicine model is extending the range of interests and potential of fish biology, including immunology. This Special Issue aims to gather new research and applied topics in the field of fish immunology at the molecular level, including but not limited to issues relating to immunoglobulins, toll-like receptors, chemokines, interferons, lectins, acute-phase proteins, interleukins, antimicrobial peptides, and inflammation, as well as leucocyte types, distribution and trafficking, maturation and molecular markers, vaccines, response to pathogens, immune regulation, evolution, and so on. Reviews or research articles in this fascinating area, which discuss the benefits of using fish as models of study and their applications or which aim to discern the bottlenecks in the field, are welcome.

Dr. Alberto Cuesta
Dr. Elena Chaves-Pozo
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Molecular Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. There is an Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal. For details about the APC please see here. Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • fish immunology
  • innate immunity
  • acquired immunity
  • leucocytes
  • disease
  • immunostimulants
  • immunodepression
  • inflammation

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

22 pages, 5376 KiB  
Article
Structural and Functional Characteristics of TLR19 in Barbel Chub Compared to TLR19 in Grass Carp
by Zhao Lv, Mengyuan Zhang, Yang Xu, Beibei Qin, Hong Yang, Ruizhong Wei and Tiaoyi Xiao
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2025, 26(7), 3103; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms26073103 - 27 Mar 2025
Viewed by 232
Abstract
The hybrid offspring of barbel chub Squaliobarbus curriculus and grass carp Ctenopharyngodon idella exhibit stronger resistance to the grass carp reovirus (GCRV) infection than grass carp. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) play indispensable roles in the antiviral immunity of fish. In this study, the structures [...] Read more.
The hybrid offspring of barbel chub Squaliobarbus curriculus and grass carp Ctenopharyngodon idella exhibit stronger resistance to the grass carp reovirus (GCRV) infection than grass carp. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) play indispensable roles in the antiviral immunity of fish. In this study, the structures and antiviral immune functions of barbel chub TLR19 (ScTLR19) and grass carp TLR19 (CiTLR19) were compared. The amino acid sequence of ScTLR19 shared high similarity (97.4%) and identity (94.0%) with that of CiTLR19, and a phylogenetic tree revealed the close evolutionary relationship between ScTLR19 and CiTLR19. Protein domain composition analyses showed that ScTLR19 possessed an additional leucine-rich repeat (designated as LRR9) located at amino acid positions 654–677 in the extracellular region, which was absent in CiTLR19. Multiple sequence alignment and three-dimensional structure comparison also indicated that the extracellular regions of ScTLR19 and CiTLR19 exhibited greater differences compared to their intracellular regions. Molecular docking revealed that the extracellular region of ScTLR19 (docking score = −512.31) showed a stronger tendency for binding with polyI:C, compared to the extracellular region of CiTLR19 (docking score = −474.90). Replacing LRR9 in ScTLR19 with the corresponding amino acid sequence from CiTLR19 reduced the binding activity of ScTLR19 to polyI:C, as confirmed by an ELISA. Moreover, overexpression experiments suggested that ScTLR19 could regulate both the IRF3–TRIF and IRF3–MyD88 signaling pathways during GCRV infection, while CiTLR19 only regulated the IRF3–MyD88 signaling pathway. Importantly, replacing LRR9 in ScTLR19 with the corresponding amino acid sequence from CiTLR19 altered the expression regulation on IRF3, MyD88, and TRIF during GCRV infection. These findings collectively reveal the structural and functional differences between ScTLR19 and CiTLR19, and they may provide data to support a deeper understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying the differences in GCRV resistance between barbel chub and grass carp, as well as the genetic basis for the heterosis of GCRV resistance in their hybrid offspring. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fish Immunology, 5th Edition)
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34 pages, 5759 KiB  
Article
Expression and Immune Response Profiles in Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) and European Sea Bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) During Pathogen Challenge and Infection
by Ahmed A. Saleh, Asmaa Z. Mohamed, Shaaban S. Elnesr, Asmaa F. Khafaga, Hamada Elwan, Mohamed F. Abdel-Aziz, Asmaa A. Khaled and Elsayed E. Hafez
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2024, 25(23), 12829; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms252312829 - 28 Nov 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1781
Abstract
Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) and European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) are economically significant species in Mediterranean countries, serving essential roles in the aquaculture industry due to high market demand and nutritional value. They experience substantial losses from bacterial pathogens [...] Read more.
Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) and European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) are economically significant species in Mediterranean countries, serving essential roles in the aquaculture industry due to high market demand and nutritional value. They experience substantial losses from bacterial pathogens Vibrio anguillarum and Streptococcus iniae, particularly at the onset of the summer season. The immune mechanisms involved in fish infections by V. anguillarum and S. iniae remain poorly understood. This study investigated their impact through experiments with control and V. anguillarum- and S. iniae-infected groups for each species. Blood samples were collected at 1, 3, and 7 days post bacterial injection to assess biochemical and immunological parameters, including enzyme activities (AST and ALT), oxidative markers (SOD, GPX, CAT, and MDA), and leukocyte counts. Further analyses included phagocyte activity, lysozyme activity, IgM levels, and complement C3 and C4 levels. Muscle tissues were sampled at 1, 3, and 7 days post injection to assess mRNA expression levels of 18 immune-relevant genes. The focus was on cytokines and immune-related genes, including pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, TNF-β, IL-2, IL-6, IL-8, IL-12, and IFN-γ), major histocompatibility complex components (MHC-IIα and MHC-IIβ), cytokine receptors (CXCL-10 and CD4-L2), antimicrobial peptides (Pleurocidin and β-defensin), immune regulatory peptides (Thymosin β12, Leap 2, and Lysozyme g), and Galectins (Galectin-8 and Galectin-9). β-actin was used as the housekeeping gene for normalization. Significant species-specific responses were observed in N. Tilapia and E. Sea Bass when infected with V. anguillarum and S. iniae, highlighting differences in biochemical, immune, and gene expression profiles. Notably, in N. Tilapia, AST levels significantly increased by day 7 during S. iniae infection, reaching 45.00 ± 3.00 (p < 0.05), indicating late-stage acute stress or tissue damage. Conversely, E. Sea Bass exhibited a significant rise in ALT levels by day 7 in the S. iniae group, peaking at 33.5 ± 3.20 (p < 0.05), suggesting liver distress or a systemic inflammatory response. On the immunological front, N. Tilapia showed significant increases in respiratory burst activity on day 1 for both pathogens, with values of 0.28 ± 0.03 for V. anguillarum and 0.25 ± 0.02 for S. iniae (p < 0.05), indicating robust initial immune activation. Finally, the gene expression analysis revealed a pronounced peak of TNF-α in E. Sea Bass by day 7 post V. anguillarum infection with a fold change of 6.120, suggesting a strong species-specific pro-inflammatory response strategy. Understanding these responses provides critical insights for enhancing disease management and productivity in aquaculture operations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fish Immunology, 5th Edition)
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25 pages, 6608 KiB  
Article
Microbiome–Metabolomics Analysis Insight into the Effects of Starvation and Refeeding on Intestinal Integrity in the Juvenile Largemouth Bass (Micropterus salmoides)
by Zhenxin Zhao, Xianbo Zhang, Fei Zhao and Tianxun Luo
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2024, 25(23), 12500; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms252312500 - 21 Nov 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1053
Abstract
The effects of starvation and refeeding on the gut condition of juvenile largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) remain unclear. Therefore, our research aimed to explore these effects. Amylase and lipase activities were remarkably decreased in the starvation (ST) group, yet prominently increased [...] Read more.
The effects of starvation and refeeding on the gut condition of juvenile largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) remain unclear. Therefore, our research aimed to explore these effects. Amylase and lipase activities were remarkably decreased in the starvation (ST) group, yet prominently increased in the refeeding (RE) group (p < 0.05). In addition to the malondialdehyde (MDA) level, catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities were significantly upregulated in the ST group (p < 0.05) in marked contrast to those in the controls; however, the RE group showed no substantial variations in CAT and SOD activities or the MDA level (p > 0.05). During starvation, the expression of Nrf2-Keap1 pathway-associated genes was significantly upregulated (p < 0.05). The comparative levels of TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-15 were highly increased, with the levels of TGF-β1 and IL-10 apparently downregulated in the ST group; in contrast, these levels were restored to their original values in the RE group (p < 0.05). In contrast to the controls, the ST group showed significantly lower height and width of the villi, muscle thickness, and crypt depth and a higher goblet cell number; however, these values were recovered to some extent in the RE group (p < 0.05). The dominant bacterial phyla in the intestines of both groups were Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Acidobacteria, and Actinobacteria, with marked inter-group differences in the genera Serratia and Lactobacillus. Metabolomics analysis showed that amino acid metabolism is disrupted during starvation and is restored after refeeding. In summary, this study expands our comprehension of the interaction between oxidative stress and antioxidant defenses among juvenile largemouth bass subjected to starvation and refeeding. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fish Immunology, 5th Edition)
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