1
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Ge XY, Han X, Zhao YL, Cui GS, Yang YG. An insight into planarian regeneration. Cell Prolif 2022; 55:e13276. [PMID: 35811385 PMCID: PMC9436907 DOI: 10.1111/cpr.13276] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2022] [Revised: 04/22/2022] [Accepted: 05/17/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Planarian has attracted increasing attentions in the regeneration field for its usefulness as an important biological model organism attributing to its strong regeneration ability. Both the complexity of multiple regulatory networks and their coordinate functions contribute to the maintenance of normal cellular homeostasis and the process of regeneration in planarian. The polarity, size, location and number of regeneration tissues are regulated by diverse mechanisms. In this review we summarize the recent advances about the importance genetic and molecular mechanisms for regeneration control on various tissues in planarian. Methods A comprehensive literature search of original articles published in recent years was performed in regards to the molecular mechanism of each cell types during the planarian regeneration, including neoblast, nerve system, eye spot, excretory system and epidermal. Results Available molecular mechanisms gave us an overview of regeneration process in every tissue. The sense of injuries and initiation of regeneration is regulated by diverse genes like follistatin and ERK signaling. The Neoblasts differentiate into tissue progenitors under the regulation of genes such as egfr‐3. The regeneration polarity is controlled by Wnt pathway, BMP pathway and bioelectric signals. The neoblast within the blastema differentiate into desired cell types and regenerate the missing tissues. Those tissue specific genes regulate the tissue progenitor cells to differentiate into desired cell types to complete the regeneration process. Conclusion All tissue types in planarian participate in the regeneration process regulated by distinct molecular factors and cellular signaling pathways. The neoblasts play vital roles in tissue regeneration and morphology maintenance. These studies provide new insights into the molecular mechanisms for regulating planarian regeneration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xin-Yang Ge
- CAS Key Laboratory of Genomic and Precision Medicine, Collaborative Innovation Center of Genetics and Development, College of Future Technology, Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,Sino-Danish College, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,China National Center for Bioinformation, Beijing, China
| | - Xiao Han
- Center for Reproductive Medicine, Henan Key Laboratory of Reproduction and Genetics, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China
| | - Yong-Liang Zhao
- CAS Key Laboratory of Genomic and Precision Medicine, Collaborative Innovation Center of Genetics and Development, College of Future Technology, Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,Sino-Danish College, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,China National Center for Bioinformation, Beijing, China
| | - Guan-Shen Cui
- CAS Key Laboratory of Genomic and Precision Medicine, Collaborative Innovation Center of Genetics and Development, College of Future Technology, Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,China National Center for Bioinformation, Beijing, China
| | - Yun-Gui Yang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Genomic and Precision Medicine, Collaborative Innovation Center of Genetics and Development, College of Future Technology, Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,Sino-Danish College, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,China National Center for Bioinformation, Beijing, China
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2
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Sasidharan V, Sánchez Alvarado A. The Diverse Manifestations of Regeneration and Why We Need to Study Them. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol 2021; 14:a040931. [PMID: 34750171 PMCID: PMC9438785 DOI: 10.1101/cshperspect.a040931] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
For hundreds of years, the question of why some organisms can regenerate missing body parts while others cannot has remained poorly understood. This has been due in great part to the inability to genetically, molecularly, and cellularly dissect this problem for most of the history of the field. It has only been in the past 20-30 years that important mechanistic advances have been made in methodologies that introduce loss and gain of gene function in animals that can regenerate. However, we still have a very incomplete understanding of how broadly regenerative abilities may be dispersed across species and whether or not such properties share a common evolutionary origin, which may have emerged independently or both. Understanding regeneration, therefore, will require rigorously practiced fundamental, curiosity-driven, discovery research. Expanding the number of research organisms used to study regeneration allows us to uncover aspects of this problem we may not yet know exist and simultaneously increases our chances of solving this long-standing problem of biology.
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3
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Cao Z, Rosenkranz D, Wu S, Liu H, Pang Q, Zhang X, Liu B, Zhao B. Different classes of small RNAs are essential for head regeneration in the planarian Dugesia japonica. BMC Genomics 2020; 21:876. [PMID: 33287698 PMCID: PMC7722302 DOI: 10.1186/s12864-020-07234-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2019] [Accepted: 11/17/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Planarians reliably regenerate all body parts after injury, including a fully functional head and central nervous system. But until now, the expression dynamics and functional role of miRNAs and other small RNAs during the process of head regeneration are not well understood. Furthermore, little is known about the evolutionary conservation of the relevant small RNAs pathways, rendering it difficult to assess whether insights from planarians will apply to other taxa. RESULTS In this study, we applied high throughput sequencing to identify miRNAs, tRNA fragments and piRNAs that are dynamically expressed during head regeneration in Dugesia japonica. We further show that knockdown of selected small RNAs, including three novel Dugesia-specific miRNAs, during head regeneration induces severe defects including abnormally small-sized eyes, cyclopia and complete absence of eyes. CONCLUSIONS Our findings suggest that a complex pool of small RNAs takes part in the process of head regeneration in Dugesia japonica and provide novel insights into global small RNA expression profiles and expression changes in response to head amputation. Our study reveals the evolutionary conserved role of miR-124 and brings further promising candidate small RNAs into play that might unveil new avenues for inducing restorative programs in non-regenerative organisms via small RNA mimics based therapies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhonghong Cao
- grid.412509.b0000 0004 1808 3414School of Life Sciences, Shandong University of Technology, 266 Xincun Western Road, Zibo, 255049 People’s Republic of China
| | - David Rosenkranz
- grid.5802.f0000 0001 1941 7111Institute of Organismic and Molecular Evolution (iOME), Anthropology, Anselm-Franz-von-Bentzel-Weg 7, Johannes Gutenberg University, 55099 Mainz, Germany
| | - Suge Wu
- grid.412509.b0000 0004 1808 3414School of Life Sciences, Shandong University of Technology, 266 Xincun Western Road, Zibo, 255049 People’s Republic of China
| | - Hongjin Liu
- grid.412509.b0000 0004 1808 3414School of Life Sciences, Shandong University of Technology, 266 Xincun Western Road, Zibo, 255049 People’s Republic of China
| | - Qiuxiang Pang
- grid.412509.b0000 0004 1808 3414School of Life Sciences, Shandong University of Technology, 266 Xincun Western Road, Zibo, 255049 People’s Republic of China
| | - Xiufang Zhang
- grid.412509.b0000 0004 1808 3414School of Life Sciences, Shandong University of Technology, 266 Xincun Western Road, Zibo, 255049 People’s Republic of China
| | - Baohua Liu
- grid.412509.b0000 0004 1808 3414School of Life Sciences, Shandong University of Technology, 266 Xincun Western Road, Zibo, 255049 People’s Republic of China
| | - Bosheng Zhao
- grid.412509.b0000 0004 1808 3414School of Life Sciences, Shandong University of Technology, 266 Xincun Western Road, Zibo, 255049 People’s Republic of China
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4
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Cao Z, Liu H, Zhao B, Pang Q, Zhang X. Extreme Environmental Stress-Induced Biological Responses in the Planarian. BIOMED RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL 2020; 2020:7164230. [PMID: 32596359 PMCID: PMC7305541 DOI: 10.1155/2020/7164230] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2020] [Accepted: 05/25/2020] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
Planarians are bilaterally symmetric metazoans of the phylum Platyhelminthes. They have well-defined anteroposterior and dorsoventral axes and have a highly structured true brain which consists of all neural cell types and neuropeptides found in a vertebrate. Planarian flatworms are famous for their strong regenerative ability; they can easily regenerate any part of the body including the complete neoformation of a functional brain within a few days and can survive a series of extreme environmental stress. Nowadays, they are an emerging model system in the field of developmental, regenerative, and stem cell biology and have offered lots of helpful information for these realms. In this review, we will summarize the response of planarians to some typical environmental stress and hope to shed light on basic mechanisms of how organisms interact with extreme environmental stress and survive it, such as altered gravity, temperature, and oxygen, and this information will help researchers improve the design in future studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhonghong Cao
- School of Life Sciences, Shandong University of Technology, 266 Xincun Western Road, Zibo 255049, China
| | - Hongjin Liu
- School of Life Sciences, Shandong University of Technology, 266 Xincun Western Road, Zibo 255049, China
| | - Bosheng Zhao
- School of Life Sciences, Shandong University of Technology, 266 Xincun Western Road, Zibo 255049, China
| | - Qiuxiang Pang
- School of Life Sciences, Shandong University of Technology, 266 Xincun Western Road, Zibo 255049, China
| | - Xiufang Zhang
- School of Life Sciences, Shandong University of Technology, 266 Xincun Western Road, Zibo 255049, China
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5
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Forsthoefel DJ, Cejda NI, Khan UW, Newmark PA. Cell-type diversity and regionalized gene expression in the planarian intestine. eLife 2020; 9:e52613. [PMID: 32240093 PMCID: PMC7117911 DOI: 10.7554/elife.52613] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/09/2019] [Accepted: 03/06/2020] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Proper function and repair of the digestive system are vital to most animals. Deciphering the mechanisms involved in these processes requires an atlas of gene expression and cell types. Here, we applied laser-capture microdissection (LCM) and RNA-seq to characterize the intestinal transcriptome of Schmidtea mediterranea, a planarian flatworm that can regenerate all organs, including the gut. We identified hundreds of genes with intestinal expression undetected by previous approaches. Systematic analyses revealed extensive conservation of digestive physiology and cell types with other animals, including humans. Furthermore, spatial LCM enabled us to uncover previously unappreciated regionalization of gene expression in the planarian intestine along the medio-lateral axis, especially among intestinal goblet cells. Finally, we identified two intestine-enriched transcription factors that specifically regulate regeneration (hedgehog signaling effector gli-1) or maintenance (RREB2) of goblet cells. Altogether, this work provides resources for further investigation of mechanisms involved in gastrointestinal function, repair and regeneration.
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Affiliation(s)
- David J Forsthoefel
- Genes and Human Disease Research Program, Oklahoma Medical Research FoundationOklahoma CityUnited States
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignUrbanaUnited States
| | - Nicholas I Cejda
- Genes and Human Disease Research Program, Oklahoma Medical Research FoundationOklahoma CityUnited States
| | - Umair W Khan
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignUrbanaUnited States
| | - Phillip A Newmark
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignUrbanaUnited States
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6
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Zhang Y, Wu W, Gao L, Chen M, Liu X, Huang M, Li A, Zheng K, Liu D, Deng H, Zhao B, Liu B, Pang Q. Protein arginine methyltransferase 1 mediates regeneration in Dugesia japonica. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 2020; 524:411-417. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2020.01.087] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2019] [Accepted: 01/14/2020] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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7
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Herath S, Lobo D. Cross-inhibition of Turing patterns explains the self-organized regulatory mechanism of planarian fission. J Theor Biol 2020; 485:110042. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2019.110042] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/02/2019] [Revised: 09/24/2019] [Accepted: 10/10/2019] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
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8
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Ramon-Mateu J, Ellison ST, Angelini TE, Martindale MQ. Regeneration in the ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi occurs in the absence of a blastema, requires cell division, and is temporally separable from wound healing. BMC Biol 2019; 17:80. [PMID: 31604443 PMCID: PMC6788111 DOI: 10.1186/s12915-019-0695-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2019] [Accepted: 08/30/2019] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The ability to regenerate is a widely distributed but highly variable trait among metazoans. A variety of modes of regeneration has been described for different organisms; however, many questions regarding the origin and evolution of these strategies remain unanswered. Most species of ctenophore (or "comb jellies"), a clade of marine animals that branch off at the base of the animal tree of life, possess an outstanding capacity to regenerate. However, the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying this ability are unknown. We have used the ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi as a system to study wound healing and adult regeneration and provide some first-time insights of the cellular mechanisms involved in the regeneration of one of the most ancient extant group of multicellular animals. RESULTS We show that cell proliferation is activated at the wound site and is indispensable for whole-body regeneration. Wound healing occurs normally in the absence of cell proliferation forming a scar-less wound epithelium. No blastema-like structure is generated at the cut site, and pulse-chase experiments and surgical intervention show that cells originating in the main regions of cell proliferation (the tentacle bulbs) do not seem to contribute to the formation of new structures after surgical challenge, suggesting a local source of cells during regeneration. While exposure to cell-proliferation blocking treatment inhibits regeneration, the ability to regenerate is recovered when the treatment ends (days after the original cut), suggesting that ctenophore regenerative capabilities are constantly ready to be triggered and they are somehow separable of the wound healing process. CONCLUSIONS Ctenophore regeneration takes place through a process of cell proliferation-dependent non-blastemal-like regeneration and is temporally separable of the wound healing process. We propose that undifferentiated cells assume the correct location of missing structures and differentiate in place. The remarkable ability to replace missing tissue, the many favorable experimental features (e.g., optical clarity, high fecundity, rapid regenerative performance, stereotyped cell lineage, sequenced genome), and the early branching phylogenetic position in the animal tree, all point to the emergence of ctenophores as a new model system to study the evolution of animal regeneration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julia Ramon-Mateu
- The Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience, 9505 N, Ocean Shore Blvd, St. Augustine, FL, 32080-8610, USA
| | - S Tori Ellison
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, 32611, USA
| | - Thomas E Angelini
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, 32611, USA
- Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, 32611, USA
| | - Mark Q Martindale
- The Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience, 9505 N, Ocean Shore Blvd, St. Augustine, FL, 32080-8610, USA.
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9
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Li DJ, McMann CL, Reddien PW. Nuclear receptor NR4A is required for patterning at the ends of the planarian anterior-posterior axis. eLife 2019; 8:42015. [PMID: 31025936 PMCID: PMC6534381 DOI: 10.7554/elife.42015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2018] [Accepted: 04/25/2019] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Positional information is fundamental to animal regeneration and tissue turnover. In planarians, muscle cells express signaling molecules to promote positional identity. At the ends of the anterior-posterior (AP) axis, positional identity is determined by anterior and posterior poles, which are putative organizers. We identified a gene, nr4A, that is required for anterior- and posterior-pole localization to axis extremes. nr4A encodes a nuclear receptor expressed predominantly in planarian muscle, including strongly at AP-axis ends and the poles. nr4A RNAi causes patterning gene expression domains to retract from head and tail tips, and ectopic anterior and posterior anatomy (e.g., eyes) to iteratively appear more internally. Our study reveals a novel patterning phenotype, in which pattern-organizing cells (poles) shift from their normal locations (axis extremes), triggering abnormal tissue pattern that fails to reach equilibrium. We propose that nr4A promotes pattern at planarian AP axis ends through restriction of patterning gene expression domains. Many animals are able to regenerate tissue that has been lost through illness or injury. Flatworms called planarians have long been used to study tissue regeneration because of their remarkable ability to completely regenerate their whole body from small pieces of tissue. Furthermore, the stem cells of adult planarians continually produce new cells to replace dying cells in a process called tissue turnover. For regeneration and tissue turnover to be successful, it is important for the new cells to form in the right location in the body; for example, new eye cells need to form in the head. Genes known as position control genes are active in muscle at specific locations along the body of a flatworm to regulate both regeneration and tissue turnover. However, it was not clear how these genes coordinate with stem cells to produce new cells in the correct positions in the body. Li et al. examined the effects of a gene known as nr4A that is particularly active in muscle at the head and tail ends of planarians. Using a technique called RNA interference to decrease the activity of nr4A in planarians disrupted the patterns of tissues at each end of the flatworms. Over time, the activity of the position control genes also became restricted to locations progressively farther away from the head and tail. As a result, cells that were intended to replace tissues in the head or tail were deposited increasingly far away from these locations. For example, new eyes formed repeatedly in the planarians, with each set farther away from the head tip than the last. Li et al. propose that these disruptions of normal tissue patterning ensue because the cells that organize such patterns at the ends of the planarian (the poles) are themselves misplaced within the existing body pattern. The nr4A gene can be found in a wide range of animal species. Understanding how this gene affects tissue patterns in planarians could therefore also help researchers to discover how adult tissue patterns form and are maintained in animals more generally.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dayan J Li
- Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, Cambridge, United States.,Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, United States.,Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Chevy Chase, United States.,Harvard/MIT MD-PhD Program, Harvard Medical School, Boston, United States
| | - Conor L McMann
- Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, Cambridge, United States.,Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, United States.,Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Chevy Chase, United States
| | - Peter W Reddien
- Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, Cambridge, United States.,Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, United States.,Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Chevy Chase, United States
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10
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Rink JC. Stem Cells, Patterning and Regeneration in Planarians: Self-Organization at the Organismal Scale. Methods Mol Biol 2018; 1774:57-172. [PMID: 29916155 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4939-7802-1_2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
The establishment of size and shape remains a fundamental challenge in biological research that planarian flatworms uniquely epitomize. Planarians can regenerate complete and perfectly proportioned animals from tiny and arbitrarily shaped tissue pieces; they continuously renew all organismal cell types from abundant pluripotent stem cells, yet maintain shape and anatomy in the face of constant turnover; they grow when feeding and literally degrow when starving, while scaling form and function over as much as a 40-fold range in body length or an 800-fold change in total cell numbers. This review provides a broad overview of the current understanding of the planarian stem cell system, the mechanisms that pattern the planarian body plan and how the interplay between patterning signals and cell fate choices orchestrates regeneration. What emerges is a conceptual framework for the maintenance and regeneration of the planarian body plan on basis of the interplay between pluripotent stem cells and self-organizing patterns and further, the general utility of planarians as model system for the mechanistic basis of size and shape.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jochen C Rink
- Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Dresden, Germany.
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11
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Elliott SA, Alvarado AS. Planarians and the History of Animal Regeneration: Paradigm Shifts and Key Concepts in Biology. Methods Mol Biol 2018; 1774:207-239. [PMID: 29916157 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4939-7802-1_4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Regeneration has captured human imagination for much of recorded history. Its sociological influence is evident in ancient and modern folklore, art, politics, and even language. In many ways, the study of regeneration helped establish the field of biology as a legitimate scientific discipline. Furthermore, regeneration research yielded critical insights that challenged flawed scientific models and uncovered fundamental principles underpinning the workings of life on this planet. This chapter details some ways in which the study of animal regeneration-with special emphasis on planarian regeneration-influenced the evolution of thought in biology. This includes contributions to the discovery of stem cells, the nature of heredity, and key concepts in pattern formation.
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12
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Generic wound signals initiate regeneration in missing-tissue contexts. Nat Commun 2017; 8:2282. [PMID: 29273738 PMCID: PMC5741630 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-02338-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 66] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2016] [Accepted: 11/22/2017] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Despite the identification of numerous regulators of regeneration in different animal models, a fundamental question remains: why do some wounds trigger the full regeneration of lost body parts, whereas others resolve by mere healing? By selectively inhibiting regeneration initiation, but not the formation of a wound epidermis, here we create headless planarians and finless zebrafish. Strikingly, in both missing-tissue contexts, injuries that normally do not trigger regeneration activate complete restoration of heads and fin rays. Our results demonstrate that generic wound signals have regeneration-inducing power. However, they are interpreted as regeneration triggers only in a permissive tissue context: when body parts are missing, or when tissue-resident polarity signals, such as Wnt activity in planarians, are modified. Hence, the ability to decode generic wound-induced signals as regeneration-initiating cues may be the crucial difference that distinguishes animals that regenerate from those that cannot. Some wounds trigger regeneration, while others simply heal but how this is regulated is unclear. Here, by manipulating ERK and Wnt signalling pathways, the authors create headless planarians and finless zebrafish and show that wounds that normally only trigger wound healing can activate regeneration of heads and bones.
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13
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Zeng W, Wang R, Zhang T, Gong C, Zuo W, Liu R, Ou Y, Xu H. Cloning and expression analysis of BmYki gene in silkworm, Bombyx mori. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0182690. [PMID: 28793345 PMCID: PMC5549978 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0182690] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2017] [Accepted: 07/21/2017] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The transcriptional coactivator Yorkie(Yki), is a critical downstream effector of the Hippo(Hpo) signaling pathway that controls organ size through the regulation of cell proliferation and apoptosis. During the past ten years the biological function of Yki has been studied extensively in Drosophila and a few other insects, however, little is known about it in the silkworm, Bombyx mori, a major research model of lepidopteran insect. Here, we describe the isolation, characterization and expression of the B. mori Yki ortholog, BmYki. The coding sequence of the BmYki was 1314 bp in length, encoding a protein of 437 amino acids containing two conserved WW domains. BmYki transcripts were ubiquitous but not abundant in all detected tissues and developmental stages. Comparatively, it was expressed at pretty high level in silk glands and at the stage of fifth-instar day-3 larvae. Overexpression of BmYki in cultured B. mori embryonic cells significantly promoted transcription of genes associated with cell proliferation and apoptosis, indicating that BmYki functions in the regulation of organ growth-related biological processes. Interestingly, transcription of silk protein-coding genes and transcription factors regulating the synthesis of silk proteins was downregulated remarkably, suggesting that BmYki was involved in the regulation of silk protein synthesis. This study provides new insights into the role of BmYki in Hpo pathway regulation in silkworm.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wenhui Zeng
- State Key Laboratory of Silkworm Genome Biology, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
| | - Riyuan Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Silkworm Genome Biology, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
| | - Tianyang Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Silkworm Genome Biology, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
| | - Chunying Gong
- State Key Laboratory of Silkworm Genome Biology, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
| | - Weidong Zuo
- College of Biotechnology, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
| | - Rongpeng Liu
- College of Biotechnology, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
| | - Yao Ou
- College of Biotechnology, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
| | - Hanfu Xu
- State Key Laboratory of Silkworm Genome Biology, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
- College of Biotechnology, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
- Institute of Sericulture and Systems Biology, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
- * E-mail:
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14
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Bonar NA, Petersen CP. Integrin suppresses neurogenesis and regulates brain tissue assembly in planarian regeneration. Development 2017; 144:784-794. [PMID: 28126842 DOI: 10.1242/dev.139964] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2016] [Accepted: 12/30/2016] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Animals capable of adult regeneration require specific signaling to control injury-induced cell proliferation, specification and patterning, but comparatively little is known about how the regeneration blastema assembles differentiating cells into well-structured functional tissues. Using the planarian Schmidtea mediterranea as a model, we identify β1-integrin as a crucial regulator of blastema architecture. β1-integrin(RNAi) animals formed small head blastemas with severe tissue disorganization, including ectopic neural spheroids containing differentiated neurons normally found in distinct organs. By mimicking aspects of normal brain architecture but without normal cell-type regionalization, these spheroids bore a resemblance to mammalian tissue organoids synthesized in vitro We identified one of four planarian integrin-alpha subunits inhibition of which phenocopied these effects, suggesting that a specific receptor controls brain organization through regeneration. Neoblast stem cells and progenitor cells were mislocalized in β1-integrin(RNAi) animals without significantly altered body-wide patterning. Furthermore, tissue disorganization phenotypes were most pronounced in animals undergoing brain regeneration and not homeostatic maintenance or regeneration-induced remodeling of the brain. These results suggest that integrin signaling ensures proper progenitor recruitment after injury, enabling the generation of large-scale tissue organization within the regeneration blastema.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicolle A Bonar
- Department of Molecular Biosciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA
| | - Christian P Petersen
- Department of Molecular Biosciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA .,Robert Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA
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15
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Abstract
Runx genes have been identified in all metazoans and considerable conservation of function observed across a wide range of phyla. Thus, insight gained from studying simple model organisms is invaluable in understanding RUNX biology in higher animals. Consequently, this chapter will focus on the Runx genes in the diploblasts, which includes sea anemones and sponges, as well as the lower triploblasts, including the sea urchin, nematode, planaria and insect. Due to the high degree of functional redundancy amongst vertebrate Runx genes, simpler model organisms with a solo Runx gene, like C. elegans, are invaluable systems in which to probe the molecular basis of RUNX function within a whole organism. Additionally, comparative analyses of Runx sequence and function allows for the development of novel evolutionary insights. Strikingly, recent data has emerged that reveals the presence of a Runx gene in a protist, demonstrating even more widespread occurrence of Runx genes than was previously thought. This review will summarize recent progress in using invertebrate organisms to investigate RUNX function during development and regeneration, highlighting emerging unifying themes.
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Affiliation(s)
- S Hughes
- Faculteit Techniek, Hogeschool van Arnhem en Nijmegen, Laan van Scheut 2, 6503 GL, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - A Woollard
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3QU, UK.
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Chan JD, Zhang D, Liu X, Zarowiecki M, Berriman M, Marchant JS. Utilizing the planarian voltage-gated ion channel transcriptome to resolve a role for a Ca 2+ channel in neuromuscular function and regeneration. BIOCHIMICA ET BIOPHYSICA ACTA-MOLECULAR CELL RESEARCH 2016; 1864:1036-1045. [PMID: 27771293 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbamcr.2016.10.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2016] [Revised: 10/13/2016] [Accepted: 10/17/2016] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
The robust regenerative capacity of planarian flatworms depends on the orchestration of signaling events from early wounding responses through the stem cell enacted differentiative outcomes that restore appropriate tissue types. Acute signaling events in excitable cells play an important role in determining regenerative polarity, rationalized by the discovery that sub-epidermal muscle cells express critical patterning genes known to control regenerative outcomes. These data imply a dual conductive (neuromuscular signaling) and instructive (anterior-posterior patterning) role for Ca2+ signaling in planarian regeneration. Here, to facilitate study of acute signaling events in the excitable cell niche, we provide a de novo transcriptome assembly from the planarian Dugesia japonica allowing characterization of the diverse ionotropic portfolio of this model organism. We demonstrate the utility of this resource by proceeding to characterize the individual role of each of the planarian voltage-operated Ca2+ channels during regeneration, and demonstrate that knockdown of a specific voltage operated Ca2+ channel (Cav1B) that impairs muscle function uniquely creates an environment permissive for anteriorization. Provision of the full transcriptomic dataset should facilitate further investigations of molecules within the planarian voltage-gated channel portfolio to explore the role of excitable cell physiology on regenerative outcomes. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: ECS Meeting edited by Claus Heizmann, Joachim Krebs and Jacques Haiech.
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Affiliation(s)
- John D Chan
- Department of Pharmacology, University of Minnesota Medical School, MN 55455, United States
| | - Dan Zhang
- Department of Pharmacology, University of Minnesota Medical School, MN 55455, United States
| | - Xiaolong Liu
- Department of Pharmacology, University of Minnesota Medical School, MN 55455, United States
| | - Magdalena Zarowiecki
- Parasite Genomics Group, Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Hinxton, United Kingdom
| | - Matthew Berriman
- Parasite Genomics Group, Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Hinxton, United Kingdom
| | - Jonathan S Marchant
- Department of Pharmacology, University of Minnesota Medical School, MN 55455, United States; The Stem Cell Institute, University of Minnesota Medical School, MN 55455, United States.
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Pang Q, Gao L, Hu W, An Y, Deng H, Zhang Y, Sun X, Zhu G, Liu B, Zhao B. De Novo Transcriptome Analysis Provides Insights into Immune Related Genes and the RIG-I-Like Receptor Signaling Pathway in the Freshwater Planarian (Dugesia japonica). PLoS One 2016; 11:e0151597. [PMID: 26986572 PMCID: PMC4795655 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0151597] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2015] [Accepted: 03/01/2016] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Background The freshwater planarian Dugesia japonica (D. japonica) possesses extraordinary ability to regenerate lost organs or body parts. Interestingly, in the process of regeneration, there is little wound infection, suggesting that D. japonica has a formidable innate immune system. The importance of immune system prompted us to search for immune-related genes and RIG-I-like receptor signaling pathways. Results Transcriptome sequencing of D. japonica was performed on an IlluminaHiSeq2000 platform. A total of 27,180 transcripts were obtained by Trinity assembler. CEGMA analysis and mapping of all trimmed reads back to the assembly result showed that our transcriptome assembly covered most of the whole transcriptome. 23,888 out of 27,180 transcripts contained ORF (open reading fragment), and were highly similar to those in Schistosoma mansoni using BLASTX analysis. 8,079 transcripts (29.7%) and 8,668 (31.9%) were annotated by Blast2GO and KEGG respectively. A DYNLRB-like gene was cloned to verify its roles in the immune response. Finally, the expression patterns of 4 genes (RIG-I, TRAF3, TRAF6, P38) in the RIG-I-like receptor signaling pathway were detected, and the results showed they are very likely to be involved in planarian immune response. Conclusion RNA-Seq analysis based on the next-generation sequencing technology was an efficient approach to discover critical genes and to understand their corresponding biological functions. Through GO and KEGG analysis, several critical and conserved signaling pathways and genes related to RIG-I-like receptor signaling pathway were identified. Four candidate genes were selected to identify their expression dynamics in the process of pathogen stimulation. These annotated transcripts of D. japonica provide a useful resource for subsequent investigation of other important pathways.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qiuxiang Pang
- Laboratory of Developmental and Evolutionary Biology, School of Life Sciences, Shandong University of Technology, Zibo 255049, China
- Anti-aging & Regenerative Medicine Research Institution, School of Life Sciences, Shandong University of Technology, Zibo 255049, China
| | - Lili Gao
- Laboratory of Developmental and Evolutionary Biology, School of Life Sciences, Shandong University of Technology, Zibo 255049, China
- Anti-aging & Regenerative Medicine Research Institution, School of Life Sciences, Shandong University of Technology, Zibo 255049, China
| | - Wenjing Hu
- Laboratory of Developmental and Evolutionary Biology, School of Life Sciences, Shandong University of Technology, Zibo 255049, China
- Anti-aging & Regenerative Medicine Research Institution, School of Life Sciences, Shandong University of Technology, Zibo 255049, China
| | - Yang An
- Immolife-biotech Co., Ltd., Nanjing 210000, China
| | - Hongkuan Deng
- Laboratory of Developmental and Evolutionary Biology, School of Life Sciences, Shandong University of Technology, Zibo 255049, China
- Anti-aging & Regenerative Medicine Research Institution, School of Life Sciences, Shandong University of Technology, Zibo 255049, China
| | - Yichao Zhang
- Laboratory of Developmental and Evolutionary Biology, School of Life Sciences, Shandong University of Technology, Zibo 255049, China
| | - Xiaowen Sun
- Laboratory of Developmental and Evolutionary Biology, School of Life Sciences, Shandong University of Technology, Zibo 255049, China
| | - Guangzhong Zhu
- Laboratory of Developmental and Evolutionary Biology, School of Life Sciences, Shandong University of Technology, Zibo 255049, China
| | - Baohua Liu
- Anti-aging & Regenerative Medicine Research Institution, School of Life Sciences, Shandong University of Technology, Zibo 255049, China
- Shenzhen University Health Science Center, Shenzhen 518060, China
- * E-mail: (BSZ); (BHL)
| | - Bosheng Zhao
- Laboratory of Developmental and Evolutionary Biology, School of Life Sciences, Shandong University of Technology, Zibo 255049, China
- * E-mail: (BSZ); (BHL)
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Emmons-Bell M, Durant F, Hammelman J, Bessonov N, Volpert V, Morokuma J, Pinet K, Adams DS, Pietak A, Lobo D, Levin M. Gap Junctional Blockade Stochastically Induces Different Species-Specific Head Anatomies in Genetically Wild-Type Girardia dorotocephala Flatworms. Int J Mol Sci 2015; 16:27865-96. [PMID: 26610482 PMCID: PMC4661923 DOI: 10.3390/ijms161126065] [Citation(s) in RCA: 68] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2015] [Revised: 11/06/2015] [Accepted: 11/10/2015] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The shape of an animal body plan is constructed from protein components encoded by the genome. However, bioelectric networks composed of many cell types have their own intrinsic dynamics, and can drive distinct morphological outcomes during embryogenesis and regeneration. Planarian flatworms are a popular system for exploring body plan patterning due to their regenerative capacity, but despite considerable molecular information regarding stem cell differentiation and basic axial patterning, very little is known about how distinct head shapes are produced. Here, we show that after decapitation in G. dorotocephala, a transient perturbation of physiological connectivity among cells (using the gap junction blocker octanol) can result in regenerated heads with quite different shapes, stochastically matching other known species of planaria (S. mediterranea, D. japonica, and P. felina). We use morphometric analysis to quantify the ability of physiological network perturbations to induce different species-specific head shapes from the same genome. Moreover, we present a computational agent-based model of cell and physical dynamics during regeneration that quantitatively reproduces the observed shape changes. Morphological alterations induced in a genomically wild-type G. dorotocephala during regeneration include not only the shape of the head but also the morphology of the brain, the characteristic distribution of adult stem cells (neoblasts), and the bioelectric gradients of resting potential within the anterior tissues. Interestingly, the shape change is not permanent; after regeneration is complete, intact animals remodel back to G. dorotocephala-appropriate head shape within several weeks in a secondary phase of remodeling following initial complete regeneration. We present a conceptual model to guide future work to delineate the molecular mechanisms by which bioelectric networks stochastically select among a small set of discrete head morphologies. Taken together, these data and analyses shed light on important physiological modifiers of morphological information in dictating species-specific shape, and reveal them to be a novel instructive input into head patterning in regenerating planaria.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maya Emmons-Bell
- Center for Regenerative and Developmental Biology and Department of Biology, Tufts University, 200 Boston Avenue, Suite 4600, Medford, MA 02155, USA; (M.E.-B.); (F.D.); (J.H.); (J.M.); (K.P.); (D.S.A.)
| | - Fallon Durant
- Center for Regenerative and Developmental Biology and Department of Biology, Tufts University, 200 Boston Avenue, Suite 4600, Medford, MA 02155, USA; (M.E.-B.); (F.D.); (J.H.); (J.M.); (K.P.); (D.S.A.)
| | - Jennifer Hammelman
- Center for Regenerative and Developmental Biology and Department of Biology, Tufts University, 200 Boston Avenue, Suite 4600, Medford, MA 02155, USA; (M.E.-B.); (F.D.); (J.H.); (J.M.); (K.P.); (D.S.A.)
| | - Nicholas Bessonov
- Institute of Problems of Mechanical Engineering, Russian Academy of Sciences, Saint Petersburg 199178, Russia;
| | - Vitaly Volpert
- Institut Camille Jordan, UMR 5208 CNRS, University Lyon 1, Villeurbanne 69622, France;
| | - Junji Morokuma
- Center for Regenerative and Developmental Biology and Department of Biology, Tufts University, 200 Boston Avenue, Suite 4600, Medford, MA 02155, USA; (M.E.-B.); (F.D.); (J.H.); (J.M.); (K.P.); (D.S.A.)
| | - Kaylinnette Pinet
- Center for Regenerative and Developmental Biology and Department of Biology, Tufts University, 200 Boston Avenue, Suite 4600, Medford, MA 02155, USA; (M.E.-B.); (F.D.); (J.H.); (J.M.); (K.P.); (D.S.A.)
| | - Dany S. Adams
- Center for Regenerative and Developmental Biology and Department of Biology, Tufts University, 200 Boston Avenue, Suite 4600, Medford, MA 02155, USA; (M.E.-B.); (F.D.); (J.H.); (J.M.); (K.P.); (D.S.A.)
| | | | - Daniel Lobo
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Maryland Baltimore County, 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250, USA;
| | - Michael Levin
- Center for Regenerative and Developmental Biology and Department of Biology, Tufts University, 200 Boston Avenue, Suite 4600, Medford, MA 02155, USA; (M.E.-B.); (F.D.); (J.H.); (J.M.); (K.P.); (D.S.A.)
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +1-617-627-6161; Fax: +1-617-627-6121
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Brandl H, Moon H, Vila-Farré M, Liu SY, Henry I, Rink JC. PlanMine--a mineable resource of planarian biology and biodiversity. Nucleic Acids Res 2015; 44:D764-73. [PMID: 26578570 PMCID: PMC4702831 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkv1148] [Citation(s) in RCA: 117] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2015] [Accepted: 10/19/2015] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Planarian flatworms are in the midst of a renaissance as a model system for regeneration and stem cells. Besides two well-studied model species, hundreds of species exist worldwide that present a fascinating diversity of regenerative abilities, tissue turnover rates, reproductive strategies and other life history traits. PlanMine (http://planmine.mpi-cbg.de/) aims to accomplish two primary missions: First, to provide an easily accessible platform for sharing, comparing and value-added mining of planarian sequence data. Second, to catalyze the comparative analysis of the phenotypic diversity amongst planarian species. Currently, PlanMine houses transcriptomes independently assembled by our lab and community contributors. Detailed assembly/annotation statistics, a custom-developed BLAST viewer and easy export options enable comparisons at the contig and assembly level. Consistent annotation of all transcriptomes by an automated pipeline, the integration of published gene expression information and inter-relational query tools provide opportunities for mining planarian gene sequences and functions. For inter-species comparisons, we include transcriptomes of, so far, six planarian species, along with images, expert-curated information on their biology and pre-calculated cross-species sequence homologies. PlanMine is based on the popular InterMine system in order to make the rich biology of planarians accessible to the general life sciences research community.
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Affiliation(s)
- Holger Brandl
- Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Pfotenhauerstrasse 108, 01307 Dresden, Germany
| | - HongKee Moon
- Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Pfotenhauerstrasse 108, 01307 Dresden, Germany
| | - Miquel Vila-Farré
- Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Pfotenhauerstrasse 108, 01307 Dresden, Germany
| | - Shang-Yun Liu
- Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Pfotenhauerstrasse 108, 01307 Dresden, Germany
| | - Ian Henry
- Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Pfotenhauerstrasse 108, 01307 Dresden, Germany
| | - Jochen C Rink
- Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Pfotenhauerstrasse 108, 01307 Dresden, Germany
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20
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Hubert A, Henderson JM, Cowles MW, Ross KG, Hagen M, Anderson C, Szeterlak CJ, Zayas RM. A functional genomics screen identifies an Importin-α homolog as a regulator of stem cell function and tissue patterning during planarian regeneration. BMC Genomics 2015; 16:769. [PMID: 26459857 PMCID: PMC4603911 DOI: 10.1186/s12864-015-1979-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2015] [Accepted: 10/02/2015] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Planarians are renowned for their regenerative capacity and are an attractive model for the study of adult stem cells and tissue regeneration. In an effort to better understand the molecular mechanisms underlying planarian regeneration, we performed a functional genomics screen aimed at identifying genes involved in this process in Schmidtea mediterranea. Methods We used microarrays to detect changes in gene expression in regenerating and non-regenerating tissues in planarians regenerating one side of the head and followed this with high-throughput screening by in situ hybridization and RNAi to characterize the expression patterns and function of the differentially expressed genes. Results Along with five previously characterized genes (Smed-cycD, Smed-morf41/mrg-1, Smed-pdss2/dlp1, Smed-slbp, and Smed-tph), we identified 20 additional genes necessary for stem cell maintenance (Smed-sart3, Smed-smarcc-1, Smed-espl1, Smed-rrm2b-1, Smed-rrm2b-2, Smed-dkc1, Smed-emg1, Smed-lig1, Smed-prim2, Smed-mcm7, and a novel sequence) or general regenerative capability (Smed-rbap46/48-2, Smed-mcm2, Smed-ptbp1, and Smed-fen-1) or that caused tissue-specific defects upon knockdown (Smed-ddc, Smed-gas8, Smed-pgbd4, and Smed-b9d2). We also found that a homolog of the nuclear transport factor Importin-α plays a role in stem cell function and tissue patterning, suggesting that controlled nuclear import of proteins is important for regeneration. Conclusions Through this work, we described the roles of several previously uncharacterized genes in planarian regeneration and implicated nuclear import in this process. We have additionally created an online database to house our in situ and RNAi data to make it accessible to the planarian research community. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12864-015-1979-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amy Hubert
- Department of Biology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, 92182-4614, USA. .,Department of Biological Sciences, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Edwardsville, IL, 62026-0001, USA.
| | - Jordana M Henderson
- Department of Biology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, 92182-4614, USA.
| | - Martis W Cowles
- Department of Biology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, 92182-4614, USA.
| | - Kelly G Ross
- Department of Biology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, 92182-4614, USA.
| | - Matthew Hagen
- Biological and Medical Informatics Research Center, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, 92182-4614, USA.
| | - Christa Anderson
- Department of Biology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, 92182-4614, USA.
| | - Claudia J Szeterlak
- Department of Biology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, 92182-4614, USA.
| | - Ricardo M Zayas
- Department of Biology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, 92182-4614, USA.
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Henderson JM, Nisperos SV, Weeks J, Ghulam M, Marín I, Zayas RM. Identification of HECT E3 ubiquitin ligase family genes involved in stem cell regulation and regeneration in planarians. Dev Biol 2015; 404:21-34. [PMID: 25956527 DOI: 10.1016/j.ydbio.2015.04.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2014] [Revised: 03/14/2015] [Accepted: 04/27/2015] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
E3 ubiquitin ligases constitute a large family of enzymes that modify specific proteins by covalently attaching ubiquitin polypeptides. This post-translational modification can serve to regulate protein function or longevity. In spite of their importance in cell physiology, the biological roles of most ubiquitin ligases remain poorly understood. Here, we analyzed the function of the HECT domain family of E3 ubiquitin ligases in stem cell biology and tissue regeneration in planarians. Using bioinformatic searches, we identified 17 HECT E3 genes that are expressed in the Schmidtea mediterranea genome. Whole-mount in situ hybridization experiments showed that HECT genes were expressed in diverse tissues and most were expressed in the stem cell population (neoblasts) or in their progeny. To investigate the function of all HECT E3 ligases, we inhibited their expression using RNA interference (RNAi) and determined that orthologs of huwe1, wwp1, and trip12 had roles in tissue regeneration. We show that huwe1 RNAi knockdown led to a significant expansion of the neoblast population and death by lysis. Further, our experiments showed that wwp1 was necessary for both neoblast and intestinal tissue homeostasis as well as uncovered an unexpected role of trip12 in posterior tissue specification. Taken together, our data provide insights into the roles of HECT E3 ligases in tissue regeneration and demonstrate that planarians will be a useful model to evaluate the functions of E3 ubiquitin ligases in stem cell regulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jordana M Henderson
- Department of Biology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92182-4614, USA
| | - Sean V Nisperos
- Department of Biology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92182-4614, USA
| | - Joi Weeks
- Department of Biology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92182-4614, USA
| | - Mahjoobah Ghulam
- Department of Biology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92182-4614, USA
| | - Ignacio Marín
- Instituto de Biomedicina de Valencia, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (IBV-CSIC), Valencia, Spain
| | - Ricardo M Zayas
- Department of Biology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92182-4614, USA.
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Roberts-Galbraith RH, Newmark PA. On the organ trail: insights into organ regeneration in the planarian. Curr Opin Genet Dev 2015; 32:37-46. [PMID: 25703843 DOI: 10.1016/j.gde.2015.01.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2014] [Revised: 01/25/2015] [Accepted: 01/27/2015] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Advances in stem cell biology have led to the derivation of diverse cell types, yet challenges remain in creating complex tissues and functional organs. Unlike humans, some animals regenerate all missing tissues and organs successfully after dramatic injuries. Studies of organisms with exceptional regenerative capacity, like planarians, could complement in vitro studies and reveal mechanistic themes underlying regeneration on the scale of whole organs and tissues. In this review, we outline progress in understanding planarian organ regeneration, with focus on recent studies of the nervous, digestive, and excretory systems. We further examine molecular mechanisms underlying establishment of diverse cell fates from the planarian stem cell pool. Finally, we explore conceptual directions for future studies of organ regeneration in planarians.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rachel H Roberts-Galbraith
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, United States
| | - Phillip A Newmark
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, United States.
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Kao D, Felix D, Aboobaker A. The planarian regeneration transcriptome reveals a shared but temporally shifted regulatory program between opposing head and tail scenarios. BMC Genomics 2013; 14:797. [PMID: 24238224 PMCID: PMC4046745 DOI: 10.1186/1471-2164-14-797] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2013] [Accepted: 11/11/2013] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Planarians can regenerate entire animals from a small fragment of the body. The regenerating fragment is able to create new tissues and remodel existing tissues to form a complete animal. Thus different fragments with very different starting components eventually converge on the same solution. In this study, we performed an extensive RNA-seq time-course on regenerating head and tail fragments to observe the differences and similarities of the transcriptional landscape between head and tail fragments during regeneration. RESULTS We have consolidated existing transcriptomic data for S. mediterranea to generate a high confidence set of transcripts for use in genome wide expression studies. We performed a RNA-seq time-course on regenerating head and tail fragments from 0 hours to 3 days. We found that the transcriptome profiles of head and tail regeneration were very different at the start of regeneration; however, an unexpected convergence of transcriptional profiles occurred at 48 hours when head and tail fragments are still morphologically distinct. By comparing differentially expressed transcripts at various time-points, we revealed that this divergence/convergence pattern is caused by a shared regulatory program that runs early in heads and later in tails.Additionally, we also performed RNA-seq on smed-prep(RNAi) tail fragments which ultimately fail to regenerate anterior structures. We find the gene regulation program in response to smed-prep(RNAi) to display the opposite regulatory trend compared to the previously mentioned share regulatory program during regeneration. Using annotation data and comparative approaches, we also identified a set of approximately 4,800 triclad specific transcripts that were enriched amongst the genes displaying differential expression during the regeneration time-course. CONCLUSION The regeneration transcriptome of head and tail regeneration provides us with a rich resource for investigating the global expression changes that occurs during regeneration. We show that very different regenerative scenarios utilize a shared core regenerative program. Furthermore, our consolidated transcriptome and annotations allowed us to identity triclad specific transcripts that are enriched within this core regulatory program. Our data support the hypothesis that both conserved aspects of animal developmental programs and recent evolutionarily innovations work in concert to control regeneration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Damian Kao
- />School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2RD UK
| | - Daniel Felix
- />Fundación CNIC Carlos III- Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares, Melchor Fernández Almagro, 3, Madrid, Código Postal 28029 Spain
| | - Aziz Aboobaker
- />Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, The Tinbergen Building, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3PS UK
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Pouchkina-Stantcheva NN, Cunningham LJ, Hrčkova G, Olson PD. RNA-mediated gene suppression and in vitro culture in Hymenolepis microstoma. Int J Parasitol 2013; 43:641-6. [PMID: 23639265 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpara.2013.03.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2012] [Revised: 03/14/2013] [Accepted: 03/17/2013] [Indexed: 02/01/2023]
Abstract
Hymenolepis microstoma, the mouse bile-duct tapeworm, is a classical rodent-hosted model that provides easy laboratory access to all stages of the life cycle. Recent characterisation of its genome has greatly advanced its utility for molecular research, albeit contemporary techniques such as those for assaying gene function have yet to be developed in the system. Here we present research on the development of RNA-mediated gene suppression via RNA interference (RNAi), and on in vitro culture of the enteric, adult phase of the life cycle to support this work. We demonstrate up to 80% quantitative suppression of a Hox transcript via soaking activated juvenile worms with double-stranded RNAs. However, we were unable to achieve segmentation of the worms in culture despite extensive manipulations of the culture media and supplements, preventing functional interpretation. An alternative, in vivo approach to RNAi was also tested by exposing cysticercoids prior to inoculation in mice, but fluorescent labelling showed that the RNAs did not sufficiently penetrate the cyst body and no difference in expression was found between exposed and control groups grown in vivo. Genomic and transcriptomic data revealed that H. microstoma has two orthologs each of Dicer, Drosha and Ago-1-like genes and that expression of one of the Ago-1 genes appears exclusive to germline development, suggesting that two or more independent RNA-mediated pathways are in operation. These studies demonstrate the viability of RNAi in H. microstoma and extend the utility of the model for research in the genomic era.
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Rouhana L, Weiss JA, Forsthoefel DJ, Lee H, King RS, Inoue T, Shibata N, Agata K, Newmark PA. RNA interference by feeding in vitro-synthesized double-stranded RNA to planarians: methodology and dynamics. Dev Dyn 2013; 242:718-30. [PMID: 23441014 DOI: 10.1002/dvdy.23950] [Citation(s) in RCA: 139] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2013] [Revised: 02/13/2013] [Accepted: 02/14/2013] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The ability to assess gene function is essential for understanding biological processes. Currently, RNA interference (RNAi) is the only technique available to assess gene function in planarians, in which it has been induced by means of injection of double-stranded RNA (dsRNA), soaking, or ingestion of bacteria expressing dsRNA. RESULTS We describe a simple and robust RNAi protocol, involving in vitro synthesis of dsRNA that is fed to the planarians. Advantages of this protocol include the ability to produce dsRNA from any vector without subcloning, resolution of ambiguities in quantity and quality of input dsRNA, as well as time and ease of application. We have evaluated the logistics of inducing RNAi in planarians using this methodology in careful detail, from the ingestion and processing of dsRNA in the intestine, to timing and efficacy of knockdown in neoblasts, germline, and soma. We also present systematic comparisons of effects of amount, frequency, and mode of dsRNA delivery. CONCLUSIONS This method gives robust and reproducible results and is amenable to high-throughput studies. Overall, this RNAi methodology provides a significant advance by combining the strengths of current protocols available for dsRNA delivery in planarians and has the potential to benefit RNAi methods in other systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Labib Rouhana
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, USA.
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King RS, Newmark PA. In situ hybridization protocol for enhanced detection of gene expression in the planarian Schmidtea mediterranea. BMC DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY 2013; 13:8. [PMID: 23497040 PMCID: PMC3610298 DOI: 10.1186/1471-213x-13-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 181] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2013] [Accepted: 02/27/2013] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Background The freshwater planarian Schmidtea mediterranea has emerged as a powerful model for studies of regenerative, stem cell, and germ cell biology. Whole-mount in situ hybridization (WISH) and whole-mount fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) are critical methods for determining gene expression patterns in planarians. While expression patterns for a number of genes have been elucidated using established protocols, determining the expression patterns for particularly low-abundance transcripts remains a challenge. Results We show here that a short bleaching step in formamide dramatically enhances signal intensity of WISH and FISH. To further improve signal sensitivity we optimized blocking conditions for multiple anti-hapten antibodies, developed a copper sulfate quenching step that virtually eliminates autofluorescence, and enhanced signal intensity through iterative rounds of tyramide signal amplification. For FISH on regenerating planarians, we employed a heat-induced antigen retrieval step that provides a better balance between permeabilization of mature tissues and preservation of regenerating tissues. We also show that azide most effectively quenches peroxidase activity between rounds of development for multicolor FISH experiments. Finally, we apply these modifications to elucidate the expression patterns of a few low-abundance transcripts. Conclusion The modifications we present here provide significant improvements in signal intensity and signal sensitivity for WISH and FISH in planarians. Additionally, these modifications might be of widespread utility for whole-mount FISH in other model organisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ryan S King
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 601 South Goodwin Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
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27
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Abstract
Planarians are members of the Platyhelminthes (flatworms). These animals have evolved a remarkable stem cell system. A single pluripotent adult stem cell type ("neoblast") gives rise to the entire range of cell types and organs in the planarian body plan, including a brain, digestive-, excretory-, sensory- and reproductive systems. Neoblasts are abundantly present throughout the mesenchyme and divide continuously. The resulting stream of progenitors and turnover of differentiated cells drive the rapid self-renewal of the entire animal within a matter of weeks. Planarians grow and literally de-grow ("shrink") by the food supply-dependent adjustment of organismal turnover rates, scaling body plan proportions over as much as a 50-fold size range. Their dynamic body architecture further allows astonishing regenerative abilities, including the regeneration of complete and perfectly proportioned animals even from tiny tissue remnants. Planarians as an experimental system, therefore, provide unique opportunities for addressing a spectrum of current problems in stem cell research, including the evolutionary conservation of pluripotency, the dynamic organization of differentiation lineages and the mechanisms underlying organismal stem cell homeostasis. The first part of this review focuses on the molecular biology of neoblasts as pluripotent stem cells. The second part examines the fascinating mechanistic and conceptual challenges posed by a stem cell system that epitomizes a universal design principle of biological systems: the dynamic steady state.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jochen C Rink
- Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Pfotenhauerstrasse 108, 01307 Dresden, Germany.
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28
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Lobo D, Malone TJ, Levin M. Towards a bioinformatics of patterning: a computational approach to understanding regulative morphogenesis. Biol Open 2013; 2:156-69. [PMID: 23429669 PMCID: PMC3575650 DOI: 10.1242/bio.20123400] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2012] [Accepted: 11/01/2012] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
The mechanisms underlying the regenerative abilities of certain model species are of central importance to the basic understanding of pattern formation. Complex organisms such as planaria and salamanders exhibit an exceptional capacity to regenerate complete body regions and organs from amputated pieces. However, despite the outstanding bottom-up efforts of molecular biologists and bioinformatics focused at the level of gene sequence, no comprehensive mechanistic model exists that can account for more than one or two aspects of regeneration. The development of computational approaches that help scientists identify constructive models of pattern regulation is held back by the lack of both flexible morphological representations and a repository for the experimental procedures and their results (altered pattern formation). No formal representation or computational tools exist to efficiently store, search, or mine the available knowledge from regenerative experiments, inhibiting fundamental insights from this huge dataset. To overcome these problems, we present here a new class of ontology to encode formally and unambiguously a very wide range of possible morphologies, manipulations, and experiments. This formalism will pave the way for top-down approaches for the discovery of comprehensive models of regeneration. We chose the planarian regeneration dataset to illustrate a proof-of-principle of this novel bioinformatics of shape; we developed a software tool to facilitate the formalization and mining of the planarian experimental knowledge, and cured a database containing all of the experiments from the principal publications on planarian regeneration. These resources are freely available for the regeneration community and will readily assist researchers in identifying specific functional data in planarian experiments. More importantly, these applications illustrate the presented framework for formalizing knowledge about functional perturbations of morphogenesis, which is widely applicable to numerous model systems beyond regenerating planaria, and can be extended to many aspects of functional developmental, regenerative, and evolutionary biology.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Michael Levin
- Tufts Center for Regenerative and Developmental Biology, and Department of Biology, Tufts University, 200 Boston Avenue, Suite 4600, Medford, MA 02155, USA
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29
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Forsthoefel DJ, James NP, Escobar DJ, Stary JM, Vieira AP, Waters FA, Newmark PA. An RNAi screen reveals intestinal regulators of branching morphogenesis, differentiation, and stem cell proliferation in planarians. Dev Cell 2013; 23:691-704. [PMID: 23079596 DOI: 10.1016/j.devcel.2012.09.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 96] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2011] [Revised: 08/12/2012] [Accepted: 09/13/2012] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Planarians grow and regenerate organs by coordinating proliferation and differentiation of pluripotent stem cells with remodeling of postmitotic tissues. Understanding how these processes are orchestrated requires characterizing cell-type-specific gene expression programs and their regulation during regeneration and homeostasis. To this end, we analyzed the expression profile of planarian intestinal phagocytes, cells responsible for digestion and nutrient storage/distribution. Utilizing RNA interference, we identified cytoskeletal regulators required for intestinal branching morphogenesis and a modulator of bioactive sphingolipid metabolism, ceramide synthase, required for the production of functional phagocytes. Additionally, we found that a gut-enriched homeobox transcription factor, nkx-2.2, is required for somatic stem cell proliferation, suggesting a niche-like role for phagocytes. Identification of evolutionarily conserved regulators of intestinal branching, differentiation, and stem cell dynamics demonstrates the utility of the planarian digestive system as a model for elucidating the mechanisms controlling postembryonic organogenesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- David J Forsthoefel
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
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30
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Chen CCG, Wang IE, Reddien PW. pbx is required for pole and eye regeneration in planarians. Development 2013; 140:719-29. [PMID: 23318641 DOI: 10.1242/dev.083741] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Planarian regeneration involves regionalized gene expression that specifies the body plan. After amputation, planarians are capable of regenerating new anterior and posterior poles, as well as tissues polarized along the anterior-posterior, dorsal-ventral and medial-lateral axes. Wnt and several Hox genes are expressed at the posterior pole, whereas Wnt inhibitory genes, Fgf inhibitory genes, and prep, which encodes a TALE-family homeodomain protein, are expressed at the anterior pole. We found that Smed-pbx (pbx for short), which encodes a second planarian TALE-family homeodomain transcription factor, is required for restored expression of these genes at anterior and posterior poles during regeneration. Moreover, pbx(RNAi) animals gradually lose pole gene expression during homeostasis. By contrast, pbx was not required for initial anterior-posterior polarized responses to wounds, indicating that pbx is required after wound responses for development and maintenance of poles during regeneration and homeostatic tissue turnover. Independently of the requirement for pbx in pole regeneration, pbx is required for eye precursor formation and, consequently, eye regeneration and eye replacement in homeostasis. Together, these data indicate that pbx promotes pole formation of body axes and formation of regenerative progenitors for eyes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chun-Chieh G Chen
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, MIT Biology, Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA.
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31
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Follistatin antagonizes activin signaling and acts with notum to direct planarian head regeneration. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2013; 110:1363-8. [PMID: 23297191 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1214053110] [Citation(s) in RCA: 64] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Animals establish their body plans in embryogenesis, but only a few animals can recapitulate this signaling milieu for regeneration after injury. In planarians, a pluripotent stem cell population and perpetual signaling of polarity axes collaborate to direct a steady replacement of cells during homeostasis and to power robust regeneration after even severe injuries. Several studies have documented the roles of conserved signaling pathways in maintaining and resetting axial polarity in planarians, but it is unclear how planarians reestablish polarity signaling centers after injury and whether these centers serve to influence identity decisions of stem cell progeny during their differentiation. Here we find that a planarian Follistatin homolog directs regeneration of anterior identity by opposing an Activin/ActR-1/Smad2/3 signaling pathway. Follistatin and Notum, a Wnt inhibitor, are mutually required to reestablish an anterior signaling center that expresses both cues. Furthermore, we show that the direction of cells down particular differentiation paths requires regeneration of this anterior signaling center. Just as its amphibian counterpart in the organizer signals body plan and cell fate during embryogenesis, planarian Follistatin promotes reestablishment of anterior polarity during regeneration and influences specification of cell types in the head and beyond.
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32
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Chan JD, Zarowiecki M, Marchant JS. Ca²⁺ channels and praziquantel: a view from the free world. Parasitol Int 2012; 62:619-28. [PMID: 23246536 DOI: 10.1016/j.parint.2012.12.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2012] [Accepted: 12/06/2012] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
Abstract
Targeting the cellular Ca(2+) channels and pumps that underpin parasite Ca(2+) homeostasis may realize novel antihelmintic agents. Indeed, the antischistosomal drug praziquantel (PZQ) is a key clinical agent that has been proposed to work in this manner. Heterologous expression data has implicated an action of PZQ on voltage-operated Ca(2+) channels, although the relevant in vivo target of this drug has remained undefined over three decades of clinical use. The purpose of this review is to bring new perspective to this issue by discussing the potential utility of free-living planarian flatworms for providing new insight into the mechanism of PZQ action. First, we discuss in vivo functional genetic data from the planarian system that broadly supports the molecular data collected in heterologous systems and the 'Ca(2+) hypothesis' of PZQ action. On the basis of these similarities we highlight our current knowledge of platyhelminth voltage operated Ca(2+) channels, their unique molecular pharmacology and the downstream functional PZQ interactome engaged by dysregulation of Ca(2+) influx that has potential to yield novel antischistosomal targets. Overall the broad dataset underscores a common theme of PZQ-evoked disruptions of Ca(2+) homeostasis in trematodes, cestodes and turbellarians, and showcases the utility of the planarian model for deriving insight into drug action and targets in parasitic flatworms.
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Affiliation(s)
- John D Chan
- Department of Pharmacology, University of Minnesota Medical School, MN 55455, USA; The Stem Cell Institute, University of Minnesota Medical School, MN 55455, USA
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33
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Olson PD, Zarowiecki M, Kiss F, Brehm K. Cestode genomics - progress and prospects for advancing basic and applied aspects of flatworm biology. Parasite Immunol 2012; 34:130-50. [PMID: 21793855 DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-3024.2011.01319.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 74] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Characterization of the first tapeworm genome, Echinococcus multilocularis, is now nearly complete, and genome assemblies of E. granulosus, Taenia solium and Hymenolepis microstoma are in advanced draft versions. These initiatives herald the beginning of a genomic era in cestodology and underpin a diverse set of research agendas targeting both basic and applied aspects of tapeworm biology. We discuss the progress in the genomics of these species, provide insights into the presence and composition of immunologically relevant gene families, including the antigen B- and EG95/45W families, and discuss chemogenomic approaches toward the development of novel chemotherapeutics against cestode diseases. In addition, we discuss the evolution of tapeworm parasites and introduce the research programmes linked to genome initiatives that are aimed at understanding signalling systems involved in basic host-parasite interactions and morphogenesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- P D Olson
- Department of Zoology, The Natural History Museum, London, UK
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34
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Peiris TH, Oviedo NJ. Gap junction proteins: master regulators of the planarian stem cell response to tissue maintenance and injury. BIOCHIMICA ET BIOPHYSICA ACTA-BIOMEMBRANES 2012; 1828:109-17. [PMID: 22450236 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbamem.2012.03.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2011] [Revised: 02/24/2012] [Accepted: 03/09/2012] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Gap junction (GJ) proteins are crucial mediators of cell-cell communication during embryogenesis, tissue regeneration and disease. GJ proteins form plasma membrane channels that facilitate passage of small molecules across cells and modulate signaling pathways and cellular behavior in different tissues. These properties have been conserved throughout evolution, and in most invertebrates GJ proteins are known as innexins. Despite their critical relevance for physiology and disease, the mechanisms by which GJ proteins modulate cell behavior are poorly understood. This review summarizes findings from recent work that uses planarian flatworms as a paradigm to analyze GJ proteins in the complexity of the whole organism. The planarian model allows access to a large pool of adult somatic stem cells (known as neoblasts) that support physiological cell turnover and tissue regeneration. Innexin proteins are present in planarians and play a fundamental role in controlling neoblast behavior. We discuss the possibility that GJ proteins participate as cellular sensors that inform neoblasts about local and systemic physiological demands. We believe that functional analyses of GJ proteins will bring a complementary perspective to studies that focus on the temporal expression of genes. Finally, integrating functional studies along with molecular genetics and epigenetic approaches would expand our understanding of cellular regulation in vivo and greatly enhance the possibilities for rationally modulating stem cell behavior in their natural environment. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: The communicating junctions, roles and dysfunctions.
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Affiliation(s)
- T Harshani Peiris
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Merced, CA 95343, USA
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35
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Tanaka EM, Reddien PW. The cellular basis for animal regeneration. Dev Cell 2011; 21:172-85. [PMID: 21763617 DOI: 10.1016/j.devcel.2011.06.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 363] [Impact Index Per Article: 27.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2011] [Revised: 06/02/2011] [Accepted: 06/10/2011] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
The ability of animals to regenerate missing parts is a dramatic and poorly understood aspect of biology. The sources of new cells for these regenerative phenomena have been sought for decades. Recent advances involving cell fate tracking in complex tissues have shed new light on the cellular underpinnings of regeneration in Hydra, planarians, zebrafish, Xenopus, and Axolotl. Planarians accomplish regeneration with use of adult pluripotent stem cells, whereas several vertebrates utilize a collection of lineage-restricted progenitors from different tissues. Together, an array of cellular strategies-from pluripotent stem cells to tissue-specific stem cells and dedifferentiation-are utilized for regeneration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elly M Tanaka
- Technical University of Dresden, DFG Center for Regenerative Therapies Dresden, c/o Max Planck Institute of Cell Biology and Genetics, Pfotenhauerstrasse 108, Dresden, Germany.
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36
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Chan JD, Marchant JS. Pharmacological and functional genetic assays to manipulate regeneration of the planarian Dugesia japonica. J Vis Exp 2011:3058. [PMID: 21897362 PMCID: PMC3217636 DOI: 10.3791/3058] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Free-living planarian flatworms have a long history of experimental usage owing to their remarkable regenerative abilities1. Small fragments excised from these animals reform the original body plan following regeneration of missing body structures. For example if a 'trunk' fragment is cut from an intact worm, a new 'head' will regenerate anteriorly and a 'tail' will regenerate posteriorly restoring the original 'head-to-tail' polarity of body structures prior to amputation (Figure 1A). Regeneration is driven by planarian stem cells, known as 'neoblasts' which differentiate into ~30 different cell types during normal body homeostasis and enforced tissue regeneration. This regenerative process is robust and easy to demonstrate. Owing to the dedication of several pioneering labs, many tools and functional genetic methods have now been optimized for this model system. Consequently, considerable recent progress has been made in understanding and manipulating the molecular events underpinning planarian developmental plasticity2-9. The planarian model system will be of interest to a broad range of scientists. For neuroscientists, the model affords the opportunity to study the regeneration of an entire nervous system, rather than simply the regrowth/repair of single nerve cell process that typically are the focus of study in many established models. Planarians express a plethora of neurotransmitters10, represent an important system for studying evolution of the central nervous system11, 12 and have behavioral screening potential13, 14. Regenerative outcomes are amenable to manipulation by pharmacological and genetic apparoaches. For example, drugs can be screened for effects on regeneration simply by placing body fragments in drug-containing solutions at different time points after amputation. The role of individual genes can be studied using knockdown methods (in vivo RNAi), which can be achieved either through cycles of microinjection or by feeding bacterially-expressed dsRNA constructs8, 9, 15. Both approaches can produce visually striking phenotypes at high penetrance- for example, regeneration of bipolar animals16-21. To facilitate adoption of this model and implementation of such methods, we showcase in this video article protocols for pharmacological and genetic assays (in vivo RNAi by feeding) using the planarian Dugesia japonica.
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Affiliation(s)
- John D Chan
- Department of Pharmacology and The Stem Cell Institute, University of Minnesota Medical School, USA
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37
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Forsthoefel DJ, Park AE, Newmark PA. Stem cell-based growth, regeneration, and remodeling of the planarian intestine. Dev Biol 2011; 356:445-59. [PMID: 21664348 PMCID: PMC3490491 DOI: 10.1016/j.ydbio.2011.05.669] [Citation(s) in RCA: 92] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2011] [Accepted: 05/24/2011] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
Although some animals are capable of regenerating organs, the mechanisms by which this is achieved are poorly understood. In planarians, pluripotent somatic stem cells called neoblasts supply new cells for growth, replenish tissues in response to cellular turnover, and regenerate tissues after injury. For most tissues and organs, however, the spatiotemporal dynamics of stem cell differentiation and the fate of tissue that existed prior to injury have not been characterized systematically. Utilizing in vivo imaging and bromodeoxyuridine pulse-chase experiments, we have analyzed growth and regeneration of the planarian intestine, the organ responsible for digestion and nutrient distribution. During growth, we observe that new gut branches are added along the entire anteroposterior axis. We find that new enterocytes differentiate throughout the intestine rather than in specific growth zones, suggesting that branching morphogenesis is achieved primarily by remodeling of differentiated intestinal tissues. During regeneration, we also demonstrate a previously unappreciated degree of intestinal remodeling, in which pre-existing posterior gut tissue contributes extensively to the newly formed anterior gut, and vice versa. By contrast to growing animals, differentiation of new intestinal cells occurs at preferential locations, including within newly generated tissue (the blastema), and along pre-existing intestinal branches undergoing remodeling. Our results indicate that growth and regeneration of the planarian intestine are achieved by co-ordinated differentiation of stem cells and the remodeling of pre-existing tissues. Elucidation of the mechanisms by which these processes are integrated will be critical for understanding organogenesis in a post-embryonic context.
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Affiliation(s)
- David J. Forsthoefel
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana-Champaign, IL, 61801, USA
| | - Amanda E. Park
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana-Champaign, IL, 61801, USA
| | - Phillip A. Newmark
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana-Champaign, IL, 61801, USA
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38
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Reddien PW. Constitutive gene expression and the specification of tissue identity in adult planarian biology. Trends Genet 2011; 27:277-85. [PMID: 21680047 PMCID: PMC3125669 DOI: 10.1016/j.tig.2011.04.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 76] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2011] [Revised: 04/18/2011] [Accepted: 04/26/2011] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
Planarians are flatworms that constitutively maintain adult tissues through cell turnover and can regenerate entire organisms from tiny body fragments. In addition to requiring new cells (from neoblasts), these feats require mechanisms that specify tissue identity in the adult. Crucial roles for Wnt and BMP signaling in the regeneration and maintenance of the body axes have been uncovered, among other regulatory factors. Available data indicate that genes involved in positional identity regulation at key embryonic stages in other animals display persisting regionalized expression in adult planarians. These expression patterns suggest that a constitutively active gene expression map exists for the maintenance of the planarian body. Planarians thus present a fertile ground for the identification of factors regulating the regionalization of the metazoan body plan and for the study of the attributes of these factors that can lead to the maintenance and regeneration of adult tissues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter W Reddien
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 9 Cambridge Center, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA.
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39
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Planarian stem cells: a simple paradigm for regeneration. Trends Cell Biol 2011; 21:304-11. [DOI: 10.1016/j.tcb.2011.01.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 116] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2010] [Revised: 01/24/2011] [Accepted: 01/26/2011] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
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40
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A chemical genetics approach reveals H,K-ATPase-mediated membrane voltage is required for planarian head regeneration. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2011; 18:77-89. [PMID: 21276941 DOI: 10.1016/j.chembiol.2010.11.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 144] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2010] [Revised: 10/22/2010] [Accepted: 11/09/2010] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Biophysical signaling is required for both embryonic polarity and regenerative outgrowth. Exploiting endogenous ion transport for regenerative therapies will require direct regulation of membrane voltage. Here, we develop a pharmacological method to target ion transporters, uncovering a role for membrane voltage as a key regulator of anterior polarity in regenerating planaria. Utilizing the highly specific inhibitor, SCH-28080, our data reveal that H(+),K(+)-ATPase-mediated membrane depolarization is essential for anterior gene expression and brain induction. H(+),K(+)-ATPase-independent manipulation of membrane potential with ivermectin confirms that depolarization drives head formation, even at posterior-facing wounds. Using this chemical genetics approach, we demonstrate that membrane voltage controls head-versus-tail identity during planarian regeneration. Our data suggest well-characterized drugs (already approved for human use) might be exploited to control adult stem cell-driven pattern formation during the regeneration of complex structures.
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41
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Zayas RM, Cebrià F, Guo T, Feng J, Newmark PA. The use of lectins as markers for differentiated secretory cells in planarians. Dev Dyn 2011; 239:2888-97. [PMID: 20865784 DOI: 10.1002/dvdy.22427] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Freshwater planarians have reemerged as excellent models to investigate mechanisms underlying regeneration. The introduction of molecular tools has facilitated the study of planarians, but cell- and tissue-specific markers are still needed to examine differentiation of most cell types. Here we report the utility of fluorescent lectin-conjugates to label tissues in the planarian Schmidtea mediterranea. We show that 16 lectin-conjugates stain planarian cells or tissues; 13 primarily label the secretory cells, their cytoplasmic projections, and terminal pores. Thus, we examined regeneration of the secretory system using lectin markers and functionally characterized two genes expressed in the secretory cells: marginal adhesive gland-1 (mag-1) and Smed-reticulocalbin1 (Smed-rcn1). RNAi knockdown of these genes caused a dramatic reduction of secretory cell lectin staining, suggesting a role for mag-1 and Smed-rcn1 in secretory cell differentiation. Our results provide new insights into planarian secretory system regeneration and add new markers for labeling several planarian tissues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ricardo M Zayas
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, USA
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42
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Gentile L, Cebrià F, Bartscherer K. The planarian flatworm: an in vivo model for stem cell biology and nervous system regeneration. Dis Model Mech 2011; 4:12-9. [PMID: 21135057 PMCID: PMC3014342 DOI: 10.1242/dmm.006692] [Citation(s) in RCA: 126] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Planarian flatworms are an exception among bilaterians in that they possess a large pool of adult stem cells that enables them to promptly regenerate any part of their body, including the brain. Although known for two centuries for their remarkable regenerative capabilities, planarians have only recently emerged as an attractive model for studying regeneration and stem cell biology. This revival is due in part to the availability of a sequenced genome and the development of new technologies, such as RNA interference and next-generation sequencing, which facilitate studies of planarian regeneration at the molecular level. Here, we highlight why planarians are an exciting tool in the study of regeneration and its underlying stem cell biology in vivo, and discuss the potential promises and current limitations of this model organism for stem cell research and regenerative medicine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luca Gentile
- Planarian Stem Cell Laboratory, Max Planck Institute for Molecular Biomedicine, Von-Esmarch-Strasse 54, 48149 Münster, Germany
| | - Francesc Cebrià
- Department of Genetics and Institute of Biomedicine, University of Barcelona (IBUB), 08028 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Kerstin Bartscherer
- Max Planck Research Group Stem Cells and Regeneration, Max Planck Institute for Molecular Biomedicine, Von-Esmarch-Strasse 54, 48149 Münster, Germany
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Abril JF, Cebrià F, Rodríguez-Esteban G, Horn T, Fraguas S, Calvo B, Bartscherer K, Saló E. Smed454 dataset: unravelling the transcriptome of Schmidtea mediterranea. BMC Genomics 2010; 11:731. [PMID: 21194483 PMCID: PMC3022928 DOI: 10.1186/1471-2164-11-731] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2010] [Accepted: 12/31/2010] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Freshwater planarians are an attractive model for regeneration and stem cell research and have become a promising tool in the field of regenerative medicine. With the availability of a sequenced planarian genome, the recent application of modern genetic and high-throughput tools has resulted in revitalized interest in these animals, long known for their amazing regenerative capabilities, which enable them to regrow even a new head after decapitation. However, a detailed description of the planarian transcriptome is essential for future investigation into regenerative processes using planarians as a model system. Results In order to complement and improve existing gene annotations, we used a 454 pyrosequencing approach to analyze the transcriptome of the planarian species Schmidtea mediterranea Altogether, 598,435 454-sequencing reads, with an average length of 327 bp, were assembled together with the ~10,000 sequences of the S. mediterranea UniGene set using different similarity cutoffs. The assembly was then mapped onto the current genome data. Remarkably, our Smed454 dataset contains more than 3 million novel transcribed nucleotides sequenced for the first time. A descriptive analysis of planarian splice sites was conducted on those Smed454 contigs that mapped univocally to the current genome assembly. Sequence analysis allowed us to identify genes encoding putative proteins with defined structural properties, such as transmembrane domains. Moreover, we annotated the Smed454 dataset using Gene Ontology, and identified putative homologues of several gene families that may play a key role during regeneration, such as neurotransmitter and hormone receptors, homeobox-containing genes, and genes related to eye function. Conclusions We report the first planarian transcript dataset, Smed454, as an open resource tool that can be accessed via a web interface. Smed454 contains significant novel sequence information about most expressed genes of S. mediterranea. Analysis of the annotated data promises to contribute to identification of gene families poorly characterized at a functional level. The Smed454 transcriptome data will assist in the molecular characterization of S. mediterranea as a model organism, which will be useful to a broad scientific community.
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Affiliation(s)
- Josep F Abril
- Departament de Genètica, Facultat de Biología, Universitat de Barcelona (UB), Barcelona, Catalunya, Spain
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Schiffmann Y. Turing-Child field underlies spatial periodicity in Drosophila and planarians. PROGRESS IN BIOPHYSICS AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY 2010; 105:258-69. [PMID: 21187110 DOI: 10.1016/j.pbiomolbio.2010.12.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2010] [Accepted: 12/20/2010] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
The regular spatial periodicity manifested in Drosophila gene expression has been considered as a test case for the involvement of a Turing system in biology. It was expected--if such involvement exists--to find a spatially periodic protein distribution where the proteins are Turing morphogens. The failure to find such a periodic distribution of Turing proteins, and the experimental findings of the involvement of different combinations of regulatory proteins and different binding sites for the different stripes of a periodic gene expression, has resulted in the dismissal of the involvement of a Turing system in Drosophila periodicity and segmentation. But if one is willing to allow a Turing system in the level of post-translational modification of proteins instead of in the protein level, one can explain the regular spatial periodicity of gene expression. The source of the spatial periodicity of gene expression does not lie in the regulatory proteins, but in the spatially periodic post-translational modification of these broadly distributed upstream regulatory proteins. The post-translational modification provides the missing spatial information for the regular pattern of 14 stripes. We report that such a field with segmental spatial periodicity that can affect downstream proteins and modify them post-translationally and periodically has been observed. This is the Turing-Child (TC) field. We explain the recent observation in Drosophila of phosphorylated transcription factor distributed with segmental periodicity, the disappearance of the spatially periodic gene expression when the regulatory protein loses its normal ability to be phosphorylated, and the spatially periodic segmental groove formation. Just as the reduction of Turing wavelength causes the appearance of 14 stripes in Drosophila so it causes the appearance of bipolar 2-headed Planaria.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yoram Schiffmann
- Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, Centre for Mathematica Sciences, Wilberforce Road, Cambridge, UK.
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Grusche FA, Degoutin JL, Richardson HE, Harvey KF. The Salvador/Warts/Hippo pathway controls regenerative tissue growth in Drosophila melanogaster. Dev Biol 2010; 350:255-66. [PMID: 21111727 DOI: 10.1016/j.ydbio.2010.11.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 104] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2010] [Revised: 11/12/2010] [Accepted: 11/13/2010] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
Abstract
During tissue regeneration, cell proliferation replaces missing structures to restore organ function. Regenerative potential differs greatly between organs and organisms; for example some amphibians can regrow entire limbs whereas mammals cannot. The process of regeneration relies on several signaling pathways that control developmental tissue growth, and implies the existence of organ size-control checkpoints that regulate both developmental, and regenerative, growth. Here we explore the role of one such checkpoint, the Salvador-Warts-Hippo pathway, in tissue regeneration. The Salvador-Warts-Hippo pathway limits tissue growth by repressing the Yorkie transcriptional co-activator. Several proteins serve as upstream modulators of this pathway including the atypical cadherins, Dachsous and Fat, whilst the atypical myosin, Dachs, functions downstream of Fat to activate Yorkie. Using Drosophila melanogaster imaginal discs we show that Salvador-Warts-Hippo pathway activity is repressed in regenerating tissue and that Yorkie is rate-limiting for regeneration of the developing wing. We show that regeneration is compromised in dachs mutant wing discs, but that proteins in addition to Fat and Dachs are likely to modulate Yorkie activity in regenerating cells. In conclusion our data reveal the importance of Yorkie hyperactivation for tissue regeneration and suggest that multiple upstream inputs, including Fat-Dachsous signaling, sense tissue damage and regulate Yorkie activity during regeneration of epithelial tissues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Felix A Grusche
- Cell Growth and Proliferation Laboratory, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, St Andrews Place, East Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
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Abstract
Adult planarians are capable of undergoing regeneration and body remodelling in order to adapt to physical damage or extreme environmental conditions. Moreover, most planarians can tolerate long periods of starvation and during this time, they shrink from an adult size to, and sometimes beyond, the initial size at hatching. Indeed, these properties have made them a classic model to study stem cells and regeneration. Under such stressful conditions, food reserves from the gastrodermis and parenchyma are first used up and later the testes, copulatory organs and ovaries are digested. More surprisingly, when food is again made available to shrunken individuals, they grow back to adult size and all their reproductive structures reappear. These cycles of growth and shrinkage may occur over long periods without any apparent impairment to the individual, or to its future maturation and breeding capacities. This plasticity resides in a mesoderm tissue known as the parenchyma, which is formed by several differentiated non-proliferating cell types and only one mitotically active cell type, the neoblasts, which represent approximately 20-30% of the cells in the parenchyma. Neoblasts are generally thought to be somatic stem-cells that participate in the normal continuous turnover of all cell types in planarians. Hence, planarians are organisms that continuously adapt their bodies (morphallaxis) to different environmental stresses (i.e.: injury or starvation). This adaptation involves a variety of processes including proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis and autophagy, all of which are perfectly orchestrated and tightly regulated to remodel or restore the body pattern. While neoblast biology and body re-patterning are currently the subject of intense research, apoptosis and autophagy remain much less studied. In this review we will summarize our current understanding and hypotheses regarding where and when apoptosis and autophagy occur and fulfil an essential role in planarians.
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Martín-Durán JM, Amaya E, Romero R. Germ layer specification and axial patterning in the embryonic development of the freshwater planarian Schmidtea polychroa. Dev Biol 2010; 340:145-58. [PMID: 20100474 DOI: 10.1016/j.ydbio.2010.01.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2009] [Revised: 01/15/2010] [Accepted: 01/15/2010] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
Although patterning during regeneration in adult planarians has been studied extensively, very little is known about how the initial planarian body plan arises during embryogenesis. Herein, we analyze the process of embryo patterning in the species Schmidtea polychroa by comparing the expression of genes involved in the establishment of the metazoan body plan. Planarians present a derived ectolecithic spiralian development characterized by dispersed cleavage within a yolk syncytium and an early transient embryo capable of feeding on the maternally supplied yolk cells. During this stage of development, we only found evidence of canonical Wnt pathway, mostly associated with the development of its transient pharynx. At these stages, genes involved in gastrulation (snail) and germ layer determination (foxA and twist) are specifically expressed in migrating blastomeres and those giving rise to the temporary gut and pharyngeal muscle. After yolk ingestion, the embryo expresses core components of the canonical Wnt pathway and the BMP pathway, suggesting that the definitive axial identities are established late. These data support the division of planarian development into two separate morphogenetic stages: a highly divergent gastrulation stage, which segregates the three germ layers and establishes the primary organization of the feeding embryo; and subsequent metamorphosis, based on totipotent blastomeres, which establishes the definitive adult body plan using mechanisms that are similar to those used during regeneration and homeostasis in the adult.
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Salvenmoser W, Egger B, Achatz JG, Ladurner P, Hess MW. Electron microscopy of flatworms standard and cryo-preparation methods. Methods Cell Biol 2010; 96:307-30. [PMID: 20869529 DOI: 10.1016/s0091-679x(10)96014-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Electron microscopy (EM) has long been indispensable for flatworm research, as most of these worms are microscopic in dimension and provide only a handful of characters recognizable by eye or light microscopy. Therefore, major progress in understanding the histology, systematics, and evolution of this animal group relied on methods capable of visualizing ultrastructure. The rise of molecular and cellular biology renewed interest in such ultrastructural research. In the light of recent developments, we offer a best-practice guide for users of transmission EM and provide a comparison of well-established chemical fixation protocols with cryo-processing methods (high-pressure freezing/freeze-substitution, HPF/FS). The organisms used in this study include the rhabditophorans Macrostomum lignano, Polycelis nigra and Dugesia gonocephala, as well as the acoel species Isodiametra pulchra.
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Affiliation(s)
- Willi Salvenmoser
- Center for Molecular Biosciences, Institute of Zoology, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
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