Ubiquitous macropinocytosis in anthozoans
Abstract
Transport of fluids, molecules, nutrients or nanoparticles through coral tissues are poorly documented. Here, we followed the flow of various tracers from the external seawater to within the cells of all tissues in living animals. After entering the general coelenteric cavity, we show that nanoparticles disperse throughout the tissues via the paracellular pathway. Then, the ubiquitous entry gate to within the cells' cytoplasm is macropinocytosis. Most cells form large vesicles of 350-600 nm in diameter at their apical side, continuously internalizing their surrounding medium. Macropinocytosis was confirmed using specific inhibitors of PI3K and actin polymerization. Nanoparticle internalization dynamics is size dependent and differs between tissues. Furthermore, we reveal that macropinocytosis is likely a major endocytic pathway in other anthozoan species. The fact that nearly all cells of an animal are continuously soaking in the environment challenges many aspects of the classical physiology viewpoints acquired from the study of bilaterians.
Data availability
All data generated or analysed during this study are included in the manuscript and supporting files.
Article and author information
Author details
Funding
Government of the Principality of Monaco
- Philippe Ganot
- Eric Tambutté
- Natacha Caminiti-Segonds
- Gaëlle Toullec
- Denis Allemand
- Sylvie Tambutté
This work was supported by the Centre Scientifique de Monaco research program, funded by the Government of the Principality of Monaco.
Copyright
© 2020, Ganot et al.
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.
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