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Updated: Feb 7, 2026

Basic Methods for the Study of Reproductive Ecology of Fish in Aquaria
Published on: July 20, 2017
Comparison of polymeric immunoglobulin receptor between fish and mammals
Xianghui Kong1, Li Wang1, Chao Pei2
1College of Life Science, Henan Normal University, Henan province, PR China; College of Fisheries, Henan Normal University, Henan province, PR China.
Abstract:
Polymeric immunoglobulin receptor (pIgR) functions in transporting polymeric immunoglobulin across epithelial cells into external secretion in animals. During animal evolution, fish was situated at a transition point on the phylogenetic spectrum between species possessing only innate immunity (i.e., invertebrates) and species depending heavily on adaptive immunity (i.e., mammals). Previous studies reported that fish and mammals significantly differ in pIgR. This review summarized the differences in pIgR structure, function, and transcriptional regulation between fish and mammals. A model of the transcriptional regulation of the pIgR gene was suggested. In this model, microbes could activate Toll-like receptor, trigger the cascade reactions in the signaling pathway, and then activate transcription factors that regulate pIgR expression through combining with the pIgR promoter. This review provides some suggestions for further studies on the function and regulatory mechanism of pIgR in fish and other animals.
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