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Cell Nov 2021Jellyfish are radially symmetric organisms without a brain that arose more than 500 million years ago. They achieve organismal behaviors through coordinated interactions...
Jellyfish are radially symmetric organisms without a brain that arose more than 500 million years ago. They achieve organismal behaviors through coordinated interactions between autonomously functioning body parts. Jellyfish neurons have been studied electrophysiologically, but not at the systems level. We introduce Clytia hemisphaerica as a transparent, genetically tractable jellyfish model for systems and evolutionary neuroscience. We generate stable F transgenic lines for cell-type-specific conditional ablation and whole-organism GCaMP imaging. Using these tools and computational analyses, we find that an apparently diffuse network of RFamide-expressing umbrellar neurons is functionally subdivided into a series of spatially localized subassemblies whose synchronous activation controls directional food transfer from the tentacles to the mouth. These data reveal an unanticipated degree of structured neural organization in this species. Clytia affords a platform for systems-level studies of neural function, behavior, and evolution within a clade of marine organisms with growing ecological and economic importance.
Topics: Animals; Animals, Genetically Modified; Behavior, Animal; Biological Evolution; Feeding Behavior; Gene Targeting; Hydrozoa; Models, Animal; Models, Biological; Nerve Net; Neurons; Neuropeptides; Neurosciences
PubMed: 34822783
DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2021.10.021 -
Molecular Cell Jul 2023RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) control RNA metabolism to orchestrate gene expression and, when dysfunctional, underlie human diseases. Proteome-wide discovery efforts...
RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) control RNA metabolism to orchestrate gene expression and, when dysfunctional, underlie human diseases. Proteome-wide discovery efforts predict thousands of RBP candidates, many of which lack canonical RNA-binding domains (RBDs). Here, we present a hybrid ensemble RBP classifier (HydRA), which leverages information from both intermolecular protein interactions and internal protein sequence patterns to predict RNA-binding capacity with unparalleled specificity and sensitivity using support vector machines (SVMs), convolutional neural networks (CNNs), and Transformer-based protein language models. Occlusion mapping by HydRA robustly detects known RBDs and predicts hundreds of uncharacterized RNA-binding associated domains. Enhanced CLIP (eCLIP) for HydRA-predicted RBP candidates reveals transcriptome-wide RNA targets and confirms RNA-binding activity for HydRA-predicted RNA-binding associated domains. HydRA accelerates construction of a comprehensive RBP catalog and expands the diversity of RNA-binding associated domains.
Topics: Animals; Humans; RNA; Protein Binding; Binding Sites; Hydra; Deep Learning
PubMed: 37421941
DOI: 10.1016/j.molcel.2023.06.019 -
Annals of Oncology : Official Journal... Jan 2023Modern medicine continues to evolve, and the treatment armamentarium for various diseases grows more individualized across a breadth of medical disciplines. Cure rates... (Review)
Review
Modern medicine continues to evolve, and the treatment armamentarium for various diseases grows more individualized across a breadth of medical disciplines. Cure rates for infectious diseases that were previously pan-fatal approach 100% because of the identification of the specific pathogen(s) involved and the use of appropriate combinations of drugs, where needed, to completely extinguish infection and hence prevent emergence of resistant strains. Similarly, with the assistance of technologies such as next-generation sequencing and immunomic analysis as part of the contemporary oncology armory, therapies can be tailored to each tumor. Importantly, molecular interrogation has revealed that metastatic cancers are distinct from each other and complex. Therefore, it is conceivable that rational personalized drug combinations will be needed to eradicate cancers, and eradication will be necessary to mitigate clonal evolution and resistance.
Topics: Animals; Humans; Hydra; Neoplasms; Medical Oncology
PubMed: 35931318
DOI: 10.1016/j.annonc.2022.07.010 -
Current Biology : CB Nov 2010
Topics: Animals; Body Patterning; Hydra; Regeneration; Reproduction, Asexual; Stem Cells
PubMed: 21093784
DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2010.09.054 -
Current Biology : CB Mar 2009
Topics: Animals; Behavior, Animal; Ecosystem; Hydrozoa; Life Cycle Stages; Seawater
PubMed: 19321136
DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2009.02.009 -
PLoS Biology Nov 2020Using mRNA sequencing and de novo transcriptome assembly, we identified, cloned, and characterized 9 previously undiscovered fluorescent protein (FP) homologs from...
Using mRNA sequencing and de novo transcriptome assembly, we identified, cloned, and characterized 9 previously undiscovered fluorescent protein (FP) homologs from Aequorea victoria and a related Aequorea species, with most sequences highly divergent from A. victoria green fluorescent protein (avGFP). Among these FPs are the brightest green fluorescent protein (GFP) homolog yet characterized and a reversibly photochromic FP that responds to UV and blue light. Beyond green emitters, Aequorea species express purple- and blue-pigmented chromoproteins (CPs) with absorbances ranging from green to far-red, including 2 that are photoconvertible. X-ray crystallography revealed that Aequorea CPs contain a chemically novel chromophore with an unexpected crosslink to the main polypeptide chain. Because of the unique attributes of several of these newly discovered FPs, we expect that Aequorea will, once again, give rise to an entirely new generation of useful probes for bioimaging and biosensing.
Topics: Animals; Biosensing Techniques; Color; Crystallography, X-Ray; Green Fluorescent Proteins; Hydrozoa; Luminescent Proteins; Models, Molecular; Optical Imaging; Phylogeny; Static Electricity
PubMed: 33137097
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3000936 -
Proceedings of the National Academy of... Sep 2022is the only metazoan able to rejuvenate repeatedly after its medusae reproduce, hinting at biological immortality and challenging our understanding of aging. We present...
is the only metazoan able to rejuvenate repeatedly after its medusae reproduce, hinting at biological immortality and challenging our understanding of aging. We present and compare whole-genome assemblies of and the nonimmortal using automatic and manual annotations, together with the transcriptome of life cycle reversal (LCR) process of We have identified variants and expansions of genes associated with replication, DNA repair, telomere maintenance, redox environment, stem cell population, and intercellular communication. Moreover, we have found silencing of polycomb repressive complex 2 targets and activation of pluripotency targets during LCR, which points to these transcription factors as pluripotency inducers in . Accordingly, we propose these factors as key elements in the ability of to undergo rejuvenation.
Topics: Animals; Genomics; Hydrozoa; Life Cycle Stages; Rejuvenation; Transcriptome
PubMed: 36037356
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2118763119 -
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal... 2013
Topics: Animals; Cell Movement; Cell Polarity; Embryo, Nonmammalian; Hydra; Neurons; Polar Bodies
PubMed: 24062591
DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2013.0419 -
PeerJ 2023The brown alga provides a natural substrate occupied by hydrozoans in shallow marine waters. A global count in 2007 listed 39 epibiotic species of Hydrozoa growing on ,... (Review)
Review
The brown alga provides a natural substrate occupied by hydrozoans in shallow marine waters. A global count in 2007 listed 39 epibiotic species of Hydrozoa growing on , but more studies have been published since, therefore, an update is timely, particularly due to the increased abundance of in the Caribbean. This review, based on a recent literature survey and new records from Mexico, includes 133 publications of epibiotic hydrozoans on spanning 220 years, from 1802 to 2022. A total of 131 hydrozoan species were recorded on 26 species of , most belonging to the subclass Hydroidolina (130), with only one record of a trachyline medusa (, subclass Trachylinae). Most publications centered on the Tropical Atlantic, where the greatest number of hydrozoan species (67 species) were recorded. All hydrozoan species possess a hydrorhiza, except one hydromedusae species that attach to via adhesive tentacles. Most of the hydrozoan species associated with exhibited a benthic life cycle (93 species) and are comprised of erect, branched colonies (67 species) and large hydrothecae (69 species). Although the number of studies of epibiotic hydrozoans on has increased since the mid-20th century, nevertheless hydrozoan richness has not reached an asymptote. Therefore, more sampling of species would likely identify more hydrozoan species associated with , especially among benthic , and might help reveal potential biogeographical and ecological patterns between and hydrozoan epibionts.
Topics: Animals; Hydrozoa; Sargassum; Life Cycle Stages; Caribbean Region; Mexico
PubMed: 37273545
DOI: 10.7717/peerj.15423 -
The International Journal of... 2012Peptides play a number of crucial roles as signaling molecules in metazoans. In order to elaborate a more complete picture of the roles played by peptides in a single... (Review)
Review
Peptides play a number of crucial roles as signaling molecules in metazoans. In order to elaborate a more complete picture of the roles played by peptides in a single organism, we launched the "Hydra Peptide Project". For this project, we used Hydra magnipapillata, a species belonging to Cnidaria, one of the most basal metazoan phyla, and using a peptidomic approach, we systematically identified a number of peptide signaling molecules, their encoding genes and their functions. In this article, we report the peptides isolated from Hydra and other cnidarians, as well as their synthesis, processing and release from the cells to the target. Possible peptide signaling pathways are overviewed and finally we discuss the evolution of the peptide signaling system.
Topics: Animals; Hydra; Insulin; Peptides; Protein Sorting Signals; Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled; Signal Transduction; Sodium Channels
PubMed: 22689368
DOI: 10.1387/ijdb.113477tf