Project description:Bilaterian animals differ from other metazoans in their apparent bilateral symmetry and the development of a third germ layer. Both might have facilitated the evolution of the diverse and complex bilaterian body plans. The first cnidarian genome sequence revealed that despite their morphological simplicity, this sister group to all bilaterians shares an immense genomic complexity with vertebrates. This suggested that it might have been the complexity of gene regulation which increased during the evolution of bilaterians. We compared the gene regulatory landscape of cnidarians and bilaterians. To this end we generated the first genome-wide prediction of gene regulatory elements and profiled five epigenetic marks in a non-bilaterian animal, the cnidarian Nematostella vectensis. We found that the location of chromatin modifications relative to genes and distal enhancers is conserved among eumetazoans. Surprisingly, the genomic landscape of gene regulatory elements is highly similar between Nematostella and bilaterian model organisms. This suggests that complex regulation of developmental gene expression evolved in eumetazoans without a major increase in complexity in bilaterians. ChIP-seq of p300, RNA Pol2, and five histone modifications in Nematostella vectensis.
Project description:The cnidarian freshwater polyp Hydra sp. exhibits an unparalleled regeneration capacity in the animal kingdom. Using an integrative transcriptomic and stable isotope labeling by amino acids in cell culture proteomic/phosphoproteomic approach, we studied stem cell-based regeneration in Hydra polyps.
Project description:The cnidarian freshwater polyp Hydra sp. exhibits an unparalleled regeneration capacity in the animal kingdom. Using an integrative transcriptomic and stable isotope labeling by amino acids in cell culture proteomic/phosphoproteomic approach, we studied stem cell-based regeneration in Hydra polyps.
Project description:We report the transcriptomic analyses of a tropical coralliomrpharian, Ricordea yuma, following the establishment of symbiosis with either native symbiont or non-native symbiont. We examined the expression profiles, and results showed distinct metabolic consequences for the cnidarian host when they host different symbionts.
Project description:Background: Cnidarian – dinoflagellate intracellular symbioses are one of the most important mutualisms in the marine environment. They form the trophic and structural foundation of coral reef ecosystems, and have played a key role in the evolutionary radiation and biodiversity of cnidarian species. Despite the prevalence of these symbioses, we still know very little about the molecular modulators that initiate, regulate, and maintain the interaction between these two different biological entities. In this study, we conducted a comparative host anemone transcriptome analysis using a cDNA microarray platform to identify genes involved in cnidarian – algal symbiosis. Results: We detected statistically significant differences in host gene expression profiles between sea anemones (Anthopleura elegantissima) in a symbiotic and non-symbiotic state. The group of genes, whose expression is altered, is diverse, suggesting that the molecular regulation of the symbiosis is governed by changes in multiple cellular processes. In the context of cnidarian – dinoflagellate symbioses, we discuss pivotal host gene expression changes involved in lipid metabolism, cell adhesion, cell proliferation, apoptosis, and oxidative stress. Conclusion: Our data do not support the existence of symbiosis-specific genes involved in controlling and regulating the symbiosis. Instead, it appears that the symbiosis is maintained by altering expression of existing genes involved in vital cellular processes. Specifically, the finding of key genes involved in cell cycle progression and apoptosis have led us to hypothesize that a suppression of apoptosis, together with a deregulation of the host cell cycle, create a platform that might be necessary for symbiont and/or symbiont-containing host cell survival. This first comprehensive molecular examination of the cnidarian – dinoflagellate associations provides critical insight into the maintenance and regulation of the symbiosis. Keywords: comparative genomic hybridization
Project description:Neuronal development is a multistep process with different regulatory programs that shapes neurons to form dendrites, axons and synapses. To date, knowledge on neuronal development is largely based on murine data and largely restricted to the genomic and transcriptomic level. Advances in stem cell differentiation now enable the study of human neuronal development, and here we provide a mass spectrometry-based quantitative proteomic signature, at high temporal resolution, of human stem cell-derived neurons. To reveal proteomic changes during neuronal development we make use of two different differentiation approaches, leading to glutamatergic induced neurons (iN) or small molecule-derived patterned motor neurons. Our analysis revealed key proteins that show significant expression changes (FDR <0.001) during neuronal differentiation. We overlay our proteomics data with available transcriptomic data during neuronal differentiation and show distinct, datatype-specific, signatures. Overall, we provide a rich resource of information on proteins associated with human neuronal development, and moreover, highlight several signaling pathways involved, such as Wnt and Notch.