• Animal cells and systems
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• v.2 no.4
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• pp.521-527
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• 1998

The turnover of epidermal cells after seawater adaptation of the freshwater fishwas studied in the guppy (Poecilia reticulata) by means of Proliferating cell nucleus antigen (PCNA) immunocytochemistry and transmission electron microscopy. The number of PCNA-immunoreactive cells in the epidermis of the seawater-adapted guppies, which becomes thinner than that in the fresh-water, generally increases four times as much. Degeneration of filament-containing cells by necrosis or apoptosis occurs mainly in epidermal cells. Apoptotic filament-containing cells seem to be shed into the water in the environment instead of phagocytosis by adjacent macrophages. The apoptotic chloride cell has a highly condensed cytoplasm and the lumen of tubular system is distended. The apoptotic mucous cell, which has an electron-dense cytoplasm, is characterized by the presence of a large multivesicular body of different electron densities. Macrophages contain many electron-dense lysosomal bodies and large vesicles filled with cellular debris. It is concluded that mitosis and apoptosis of epidermal cells are greatly stimulated when fish are adapting to seawater. This result reflects an increase in epidermal cell turnover by change of environmental salinity.