Pagliara P et al. (2021), Chemical characterization of red cells from the...

ECB-ART-50360

RSC Adv 2021 Aug 09;1143:27074-27083. doi: 10.1039/d1ra03156b.

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Chemical characterization of red cells from the black sea urchin Arbacia lixula by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.

Pagliara P , Chirizzi D , Guascito MR .

Abstract
Red spherula cells (RSC) from sea urchin coelomic fluid have attracted great interest for their specific and intriguing properties, such as for example antimicrobial activities and immune response, that probably tie in with their red characteristic pigments. Although to date different studies have been reported aimed to chemically characterize their pigments extracted from the cells, few data are available about the chemical characterization of the cell surface. In this work, a systematic chemical characterization of the RSC surface by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis is described. The results were compared with data on colorless cells from the same coelomic fluid sample. Our observations evidenced that the two cell types were characterized by the presence of different chemical functional groups. In particular, the colorless cells are dominated by the presence of alkyl, alcohol, amide, and carboxyl groups in accordance with other similar cell types, enriched in Na+ and Cl- ions. Traces of elements like S (sulphonates) and P (phosphates) are also present. On the other hand, the RSC in addition to the alkyl groups show a reduction in the content of amide groups, accompanied by the anomalous presence of keto-enolic groups that probably can be associated with the presence of quinones/hydro-quinones from red pigments. A chemical enrichment in elements such as Cl- and Mg2+ and sulphate groups (-R-O-SO3 -), as well as the presence of sulphides and phosphates traces, is evident. The absence of carbonate groups is also observed in both cell populations, confirming the absence of sodium and magnesium carbonate salts. No traces of toxic elements (i.e., heavy metals) have been revealed.

PubMed ID: 35480024
PMC ID: PMC9037641
Article link: RSC Adv

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References [+] :

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	Fig. 1. Cells from the sea urchin A. lixula. (a) Whole coelomic fluid with different cell types. (b) Cell population separation by a density gradient. (c) Colorless cells from P1. (d) Red cells from P4.
	Fig. 2. Survey XPS spectra for colorless (A) and red (B) cells samples. Staked curves have been obtained by shifting red cells original counts along the Y-axis of a constant value of 700000 cps. As obtained original data can be appreciated in Fig. S4.†
	Fig. 3. Atomic percentage composition (at%) of colorless and red cell surfaces. All data are representative of three averaged different analysed randomly selected samples spots. Reported errors represent the standard errors obtained from the variability observed on these three sample spots. * represent values near the limit of detection (LOD).
	Fig. 4. XPS high-resolution region of C 1s (panels A and B), N 1s (panels C and D) and O 1s (panels E and F) for colorless and red cells, respectively.
	Fig. 5. XPS high-resolution region of Cl 2p (panels A and B), Na 1s (panel C, no fit) and Mg1s (panel D, no fit) for colorless and red cells, respectively.
	Fig. 6. XPS high-resolution region of S 2p (panel A, no-fit) and P 2p (panel B, no fit) for colorless and red cells.