Par protein localization during the early development of Mnemiopsis leidyi suggests different modes of epithelial organization in the Metazoa

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Abstract

In bilaterians and cnidarians, epithelial cell-polarity is regulated by the interactions between Par proteins, Wnt/PCP signaling pathway, and cell-cell adhesion. Par proteins are highly conserved across Metazoa, including ctenophores. But strikingly, ctenophore genomes lack components of the Wnt/PCP pathway and cell-cell adhesion complexes raising the question if ctenophore cells are polarized by mechanisms involving Par proteins. Here, by using immunohistochemistry and live-cell imaging of specific mRNAs, we describe for the first time the subcellular localization of selected Par proteins in blastomeres and epithelial cells during the embryogenesis of the ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi. We show that these proteins distribute differently compared to what has been described for other animals, even though they segregate in a host-specific fashion when expressed in cnidarian embryos. This differential localization might be related to the emergence of different junctional complexes during metazoan evolution.

Data availability

Genomic and Sequencing data can be found in the Mnemiopsis Genome Project (NIH-NHGRI) webpage http://kona.nhgri.nih.gov/mnemiopsis/All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in the manuscript and supporting files. Raw data for all images are available upon request to the authors.

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Miguel Salinas-Saavedra

Centre for Chromosome Biology, National University of Ireland Galway, Galway, Ireland

For correspondence
miguel.salinas-saavedra@nuigalway.ie

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

"This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0002-1598-9881
Mark Q Martindale

Whitney laboratory, University of Florida, Saint Augustine, United States

For correspondence
mqmartin@whitney.ufl.edu

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

Funding

National Science Foundation (NSF IOS-1755364)

Mark Q Martindale

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA 16-EXO16_2-0041)

Mark Q Martindale

The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.

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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.