Project description:The goal of this experiment is to identify target genes of Egf signaling which regulate recovery of the neoblast population following exposure to a sublethal dose of radiation. A large population of highly proliferative stem cells (neoblasts) is required for physiological tissue homeostasis and regeneration after injury in planarians. Recent studies indicate that survival of a few neoblasts after sublethal irradiation results in the clonal expansion of the surviving stem cells and the eventual restoration of tissue homeostasis and regenerative capacity. Many genes are known to be required for the normal function of neoblasts, but the precise mechanisms regulating the population dynamics of these adult pluripotent stem cells remain largely unknown. By coupling RNAi screening and sublethal irradiation, we uncovered a central role for Epidermal Growth Factor (EGF) signaling during in vivo neoblast expansion mediated by Smed-egfr-3 (egfr-3) and its putative ligand Smed-neuregulin-7 (nrg-7). Furthermore, the EGFR-3 protein localizes asymmetrically on the cytoplasmic membrane of neoblasts and the ratio of asymmetric to symmetric cell divisions decreases significantly in egfr-3(RNAi) worms. Our results not only provide the first molecular evidence of asymmetric stem cell divisions in planarian, but also demonstrate that EGF signaling likely functions as an essential regulator of neoblast clonal expansion.
Project description:Adult stem cells are tissue-specific cells with the capacity to self-renew and differentiate to continually replace cells lost to normal physiological turnover or injury. Neoblasts, the planarian stem cells, are widely distributed throughout the body mesenchyme, driving constitutive renewal of tissues during homeostasis and endowing planarians with the remarkable capacity to regenerate wholly from tiny tissue fragments. Neoblasts are the only dividing cells in planarians and are believed to be collectively comprised of both a heterogeneous population of pluripotent cells with broad differentiation potential and also lineage-committed progenitor cells that give rise to specific tissues. Recent technology has allowed one to isolate stem cells so we used a well-established method to isolate planarian stem cells by Hoechst blue staining and flow cytometry. To understand the molecular mechanisms underlying neoblast differentiation, we performed an RNA-Seq analysis of X1 and Xins cells looking at the differentially expressed genes between the two populations. Examine gene expression profiles of adult flatwormâ??s X1 and Xins cell types. The experiment was performed in quadruplicate yielding a total of 8 samples.
Project description:Adult stem cells are tissue-specific cells with the capacity to self-renew and differentiate to continually replace cells lost to normal physiological turnover or injury. Neoblasts, the planarian stem cells, are widely distributed throughout the body mesenchyme, driving constitutive renewal of tissues during homeostasis and endowing planarians with the remarkable capacity to regenerate wholly from tiny tissue fragments. Neoblasts are the only dividing cells in planarians and are believed to be collectively comprised of both a heterogeneous population of pluripotent cells with broad differentiation potential and also lineage-committed progenitor cells that give rise to specific tissues. Recent technology has allowed one to isolate stem cells so we used a well-established method to isolate planarian stem cells by Hoechst blue staining and flow cytometry. To understand the molecular mechanisms underlying neoblast differentiation, we performed an RNA-Seq analysis of X1 and Xins cells looking at the differentially expressed genes between the two populations.
Project description:The freshwater planarian Schmidtea mediterranea is well known by its amazing regeneration capabilities thanks to the presence of adult stem cells, the neoblasts, the only proliferative cells and responsible for the differentiation in all the cell types of the organism. This study involves the creation of separated transcript libraries from both, isolated neoblasts and differentiated cells, as well as their posterior sequencing and quantification through Digital Gene Expression (DGE) for the characterization of the neoblast transcriptome. Three DGE libraries were produced from FACS isolated cell populations X1 (proliferating stem cells, S/G2/M), X2 (a mix of proliferating stem cells and stem cell progeny, G0/G1) and Xin (differentiated cells, G0/G1). Cells were isolated from a pool of 32 regenerating animals two days after being cut off pre- and post-pharingeally to trigger regeneration and neoblast proliferation.
Project description:Background: Freshwater planarians are well known for their regenerative abilities. Less well known is how planarians maintain spatial patterning in long-lived adult animals or how they re-pattern tissues during regeneration. HOX genes are good candidates to regulate planarian spatial patterning, yet the full complement or genomic clustering of planarian HOX genes has not yet been described, primarily because only a few have been detectable by in situ hybridization, and none have given morphological phenotypes when knocked down by RNAi. Results: Because the planarian Schmidtea mediterranea (S. med) is unsegmented, appendage-less, and morphologically simple, it has been proposed that it may have a simplified HOX gene complement. Here we argue against this hypothesis and show that S. med has a total of 13 HOX genes, which represent homologs to all major axial categories, and can be detected by whole-mount in situ hybridization using a highly-sensitive method. In addition, we show that planarian HOX genes do not cluster in the genome, yet 5/13 have retained aspects of axially-restricted expression. Finally, we confirm HOX gene axial expression by RNA-deep-sequencing 6 anterior-to-posterior “zones” of the animal, which we provide as a dataset to the community to discover other axially-restricted transcripts. Conclusions: Freshwater planarians have an unappreciated HOX gene complexity, with all major axial categories represented. However, we conclude based on adult expression patterns that planarians have a derived body plan and their asexual lifestyle may have allowed for large changes in HOX expression from the last common ancestor between arthropods, flatworms, and vertebrates. Using our in situ method and axial zone RNAseq data, it should be possible to further understand the pathways that pattern the anterior-posterior axis of adult planarians.