Diverse cell junctions with unique molecular composition in tissues of a sponge (Porifera).

ABSTRACT: The integrity and organization of animal tissues depend upon specialized protein complexes that mediate adhesion between cells with each other (cadherin-based adherens junctions), and with the extracellular matrix (integrin-based focal adhesions). Reconstructing how and when these cell junctions evolved is central to understanding early tissue evolution in animals. We examined focal adhesion protein homologs in tissues of the freshwater sponge, Ephydatia muelleri (phylum Porifera; class Demospongiae). Our principal findings are that (1) sponge focal adhesion homologs (integrin, talin, focal adhesion kinase, etc.) co-precipitate as a complex, separate from adherens junction proteins; (2) that actin-based structures resembling focal adhesions form at the cell-substrate interface, and their a

SUBMITTER: Mitchell JM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6820919 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature