Multiparametric comparative analysis of coelomocytes in Asterias amurensis and Lysastrosoma anthosticta

Abstract

Behavioral dynamics of coelomocytes from echinoderms Asterias amurensis and Lysastrosoma anthosticta during the first hour of in vitro cultivation was analyzed using a wide range of linear and fractal parameters of the external morphology. Most of the parameters, including values of the cell bounding circle and convex hull, asymmetry, fractal dimensions of contour images, lacunarity, and cell density and area, showed species-specific behavior of the immune cells of the studied animals. The cells differed in a wide range of parameters as early as two min after seeding on the substrate. The cells acquired the largest morphological differences by the fifth min of cultivation. Both cell dynamics in general and analysis of the cell morphology at individual points in time may serve as markers for species-specificity of cells. However, when morphology is compared at one point in time, at least two parameters associated with significant morphological differences in cells of the studied species should be used because of overlapping tendencies in changes in morphological features.