ABSTRACT
We previously reported that a primitive vertebrate, the Mexican axolotl (Amphibian, Urodela) synthesizes two classes of immunoglobulins. IgM are present in serum early in the development, and represent the bulk of specific antibody synthesis after an antigenic challenge. IgY occur in the serum later during the development, and are relatively insensitive to immunization. We demonstrate in the present work, using immunofluorescence with specific Mabs, that IgY are expressed in the gut epithelium, as secretory molecules. Secretory IgY are well expressed in the stomach and intestinal mucosae of young animals from 1 month after hatching to the seventh month. Thereafter, IgY progressively disappear from the gut and become readily detectable in the serum of 9-month-old preadult immunologically mature animals. Axolotl IgY are closely associated in the gut to secretory component-like (SC) molecules that are well-recognized by antisera to the SC of different mammalian species. This is the first description, in a primitive tetrapode, of an immunoglobulin class that could be the physiological counterpart of mammalian IgA.