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Studying Wnt Signaling During Patterning of Conducting Airways
Published on: October 16, 2016
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Wnt and TGFβ coordinate growth and patterning to regulate size-dependent behaviour.
Christopher P Arnold1,2, Blair W Benham-Pyle1, Jeffrey J Lange1
1Stowers Institute for Medical Research, Kansas City, MO, USA.
Nature
|August 16, 2019
Summary
Planarian flatworms adjust reproduction frequency with parent size. Signaling pathways (TGFβ and Wnt) regulate this size-dependent fission behavior and neuron patterning.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Biology
- Regenerative Medicine
- Animal Behavior
Background:
- Metazoan body size and shape diversity arise from differential growth and patterning.
- The mechanisms coordinating tissue size and function are not fully understood.
- Planarians exhibit bidirectional body size scaling and size-dependent asexual reproduction.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the link between size and function in planarian asexual reproduction.
- To identify mechanisms coordinating planarian body size, patterning, and behavior.
Main Methods:
- Optimized planarian fission protocol in Schmidtea mediterranea.
- RNA interference (RNAi) screen of anterior-posterior patterning genes.
- Inhibition of Wnt and TGFβ signaling during planarian growth.
Main Results:
- Progeny number and fission frequency correlate with parent planarian size.
- Fission progeny size is determined by fixed, mechanically vulnerable planes.
- TGFβ and Wnt signaling pathways regulate fission frequency, not fission plane position.
- Wnt and TGFβ inhibition alters mechanosensory neuron patterning and fission behavior.
Conclusions:
- TGFβ and Wnt signaling pathways play a crucial role in regulating size-dependent reproductive behavior in planarians.
- This study reveals an interdependence between patterning, growth, and neurological function in size regulation.
- Mechanosensory neuron patterning is linked to body size and influences fission behavior.
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