Carbonic Anhydrase in the Gills of Seawater-and Freshwater-acclimated Flounders Platichthys flesus: Purification, Characterization, and Immunohistochemical Localization

Flounders Platichthys flesus were investigated with respect to isolation, purification, and cellular localization of carbonic anhydrase (CA) in the respiratory system. CA was purified from gills and erythrocytes and was shown to exclusively represent a soluble enzyme with an apparent molecular weight of 30 kD. Inhibition constants (KI) towards acetazolamide (ACTZ) were 8.4.10(-9) M for erythrocyte CA and 7.6.10(-9) M for gill CA, indicating a high sensitivity to sulfonamides, as exhibited by human CA II. Specific CA activity did not differ significantly in seawater- and freshwater-acclimated fish. Antibodies were raised against purified gill and erythrocyte CA. Both antisera crossreacted and were used to localize CA in the gills of seawater and freshwater flounders at the light microscopic level. Independent of the salinity, a positive reaction of variable intensity was found in the following cell types: pavement cells (PVCs), forming the gill epithelial surface layer; mucous cells (MCs); pillar cells (PCs), bordering the vascular channels of the secondary lamellae; and chloride cells (CCs), mitochondria-rich cells located in the primary epithelium, the interlamellar regions, and at the bases of the secondary lamellae.(J Histochem Cytochem 47:43-50, 1999)