Effect of 17β-estradiol on adhesion of Mytilus galloprovincialis hemocytes to selected substrates. Role of alpha2 integrin subunit

The process of hemocyte adhesion to extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins plays a crucial role in cell immunity. In most of these interactions between ECM proteins and cells, integrins are involved. The results of the present study showed that incubation of Mytilus galloprovincialis hemocytes with 17β-estradiol caused significant increased adhesion of hemocytes to ECM proteins and specifically to laminin-1, collagen IV and oxidized collagen IV, in relation to control cells. The adhesion of hemocytes to oxidized collagen was significantly higher than to either collagen IV or to laminin-1. In accordance with this, inhibition of either NADPH oxidase or nitric oxide (NO) synthase attenuated 17β-estradiol effect on hemocyte adhesion, suggesting that the high levels of free radicals, produced after 17β-estradiol effect, could contribute to the high adhesion of hemocytes to laminin-1 and collagen IV. The implication of ROS was further confirmed by the use of the oxidant rotenone, which caused elevation of cell adhesion in relation to control and by the antioxidant NAC which attenuated 17β-estradiol effect. The mechanism of 17β-estradiol induced adhesion to laminin-1, collagen IV and oxidized collagen IV involves a large number of intracellular components, as Na+/H+ exchanger (NHE), all isoforms of protein kinase C (PKC), phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K) and c-jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) as well as alpha2 integrin subunit. Maintenance of high cyclic adenosine-3′-5′-monophosphate (cAMP) levels caused non significant higher adhesion of hemocytes to ECM proteins in relation to control cells. Our results showed that 17β-estratiol caused a significant increase in α2 integrin subunit levels, which was reduced after inhibition of NHE, PI3K, PKC, NO synthase, NADPH oxidase and JNK. In addition, our results showed that apart from 17β-estradiol, high cAMP and high ROS levels caused significantly higher induction of α2 integrin subunit levels in relation to control. Our results imply a potential involvement of cAMP in immune responses of Mytilus hemocytes, which needs further investigation.

► We studied the effects of 17β-estradiol on Mytilus galloprovincialis hemocytes.
► 17β-estradiol increased hemocyte adhesion to ECM proteins and a2 integrin subunit levels.
► ROS and cAMP seem to take part in the latter process.
► The relation of NHE with hemocyte adhesion and with a2 integrin subunit is reported.
► A signaling pathway induced by 17β-estradiol is suggested.