The Shraga Segal Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Genetics, Faculty of Health Sciences, Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cells, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, Israel; The Goldman Sonnenfeldt School of Sustainability and Climate Change, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, Israel.
Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences, Faculty of Science, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel.
Cell Rep. 2024 Nov 26;43(11):114944. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2024.114944. Epub 2024 Nov 1.
Stem cells are the foundation for cell therapy due to their ability to self-renew, differentiate into other cell types, and persist throughout the life of an organism. Stem cell isolation and transplantation have not yet been established in Hexacorallia, a cnidarian subclass containing stony corals and sea anemones. Here, we demonstrate that candidate stem cells in the hexacorallian Nematostella vectensis can be transplanted into adult animals. These cells exhibited the hallmarks of stem cell functional properties; they integrated into recipients' tissues and rescued them from lethal doses of chemotherapy. Additionally, these cells proliferated and survived serial transplantations. Notably, we showed that this cellular subpopulation can be enriched by sorting using species-non-specific cell markers and that similar subpopulations of cells can be isolated from other hexacorallians, including stony corals. This research establishes the basis for studying stem cell biology on a functional level in Hexacorallia.
干细胞因其自我更新、分化为其他细胞类型以及在生物体的整个生命周期中持续存在的能力，是细胞治疗的基础。在包含石珊瑚和海葵的刺胞动物子类六放珊瑚亚纲中，尚未建立干细胞分离和移植。在这里，我们证明了六放珊瑚纲动物 Nematostella vectensis 中的候选干细胞可以被移植到成年动物体内。这些细胞表现出干细胞功能特性的特征；它们整合到受体的组织中，并使它们免受致死剂量的化疗。此外，这些细胞增殖并在连续的移植中存活。值得注意的是，我们表明，通过使用非物种特异性的细胞标记物对该细胞亚群进行分选，可以对其进行富集，并且可以从其他六放珊瑚纲动物中分离出类似的细胞亚群，包括石珊瑚。这项研究为在六放珊瑚纲动物中从功能水平研究干细胞生物学奠定了基础。
