Background: Mercury (Hg) is considered a global pollutant because Hg0 which is the predominant form of atmospheric Hg resides in the atmosphere for as long as 0.5 to 2 years. Mercury has many negative effects on the reproductive, respiratory, and immune systems. Methods: In this study, 24 Caspian lampreys (Caspiomyzon wagneri) were transported to the university laboratory and then stored in ...

The prototype of the short consensus repeat (SCR)-containing C regulatory protein is of interest in view of its evolutionary significance with regard to the origin of the C regulatory system. Lamprey is an agnathan fish that belongs to the lowest class of vertebrates. Because it does not possess lymphocytes, it lacks Ig and consequently the classical C pathway. We identified an SCR-containing C...

Insulin-like growth factor-binding proteins (IGFBPs) are multifunctional proteins that possess IGF-dependent and -independent actions. Recent studies suggest that its IGF-independent action appeared early and that the IGF-binding function may have been acquired later in evolution. The timing of the emergence of IGF-dependent actions is unclear. Here, we identified and characterized an igfbp gen...

The jawless vertebrates (lamprey and hagfish) are the closest extant outgroups to all jawed vertebrates (gnathostomes) and can therefore provide critical insight into the evolution and basic biology of vertebrate genomes. As such, it is notable that the genomes of lamprey and hagfish possess a capacity for rearrangement that is beyond anything known from the gnathostomes. Like the jawed vertebr...

The lectin complement pathway in innate immunity is closely related to the classical complement pathway in adaptive immunity, with respect to the structures and functions of their components. Both pathways are initiated by complexes consisting of collagenous proteins and serine proteases of the mannose-binding lectin (MBL)-associated serine protease (MASP)/C1r/C1s family. It has been speculated...

The recognition of pathogens is mediated by a set of pattern recognition molecules that recognize conserved pathogen-associated molecular patterns shared by broad classes of microorganisms. Mannose-binding lectin (MBL) is one of the pattern recognition molecules and activates complement in association with MBL-associated serine protease (MASP) via the lectin pathway. Recently, an MBL-like lecti...

The present study investigated GnRH forms within the brain of a representative of the order Cypriniformes, the white sucker, Catostomus commersoni, using HPLC, RIA, and immunocytochemistry. Several immunoreactive (ir) GnRH forms were identified in the brain of the white sucker by chromatography and radioimmunoassay, including ir-salmon GnRH, ir-lamprey GnRH-I and -III, and ir-chicken GnRH-II. R...

Tracking individual web sessions provides valuable information about user behavior. This information can be used for general purpose evaluation of web-based user interfaces to biomedical information systems. To this end, we have developed Lamprey, a tool for doing quantitative and qualitative analysis of Web-based user interfaces. Lamprey can be used from any conforming browser, and does not re...

We examined the effects of insulin (INS) and somatostatin 14 (SS-14) on glycemic regulation in larval and metamorphosing landlocked sea lamprey, Petromyzon marinus. Animals were injected intraperitoneally with either (Experiment 1) saline (0.6%), somatostatin-14 (SS-14; 50 or 500 ng/g body weight), insulin (INS; 10 or 100 ng/g body weight), or alloxan (20 or 200 μg/g body weight), or with (Expe...

To determine if vascular smooth muscle from teleost and agnathan fishes expresses receptors for signaling agents that are important in vascular tension in other vertebrates, we exposed rings of aortic vascular smooth muscle from the eel (Anguilla rostrata), the hagfish (Myxine glutinosa), and the lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) to a suite of putative agonists, including: acetylcholine, endothelin,...