Shi Wenjie, Liu Penghui, Yang Dongyu, Zhuang Yuan, Lin Boyan, Dong Bo
Fang Zongxi Center for Marine EvoDevo, MoE Key Laboratory of Marine Genetics and Breeding, College of Marine Life Sciences, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266003, China.
Laboratory for Marine Biology and Biotechnology, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao 266237, China.
Cells. 2025 Apr 4;14(7):546. doi: 10.3390/cells14070546.
Metamorphosis is a common developmental process in invertebrate development. It is essential for the degeneration of larval organs, formation of adult organs, and adaptation transformation of the living environment. However, the underlying molecular regulatory mechanism remains to be elucidated. In this study, we used tail regression of ascidian as a model to understand the gene regulation pathway and molecular mechanism in organ metamorphosis. The TGFβ signaling pathway was screened and demonstrated to be involved in tail regression based on RNA sequencing on the different larval stages and verification with inhibitor treatment experiments. We further investigated the downstream gene network of the TGFβ signaling pathway through comparative transcriptome data analysis on the TGFβ pathway inhibition samples. Together with qRT-PCR verification, we identified four critical gene functional categories, including ion transporters/water channel, extracellular matrix structural constituent, extracellular matrix organization, and cell polarity establishment. Furthermore, a cross-species comparative analysis between and was performed to understand the conservation and divergence of gene regulation in ascidians. Overall, our work identifies a crucial gene regulation pathway in ascidian tail regression and provides several potential downstream targets for understanding the molecular mechanism of larval metamorphosis.
变态是无脊椎动物发育过程中常见的发育过程。它对于幼虫器官的退化、成体器官的形成以及生存环境的适应性转变至关重要。然而，其潜在的分子调控机制仍有待阐明。在本研究中，我们以海鞘的尾部退化作为模型，来了解器官变态过程中的基因调控途径和分子机制。基于对不同幼虫阶段的RNA测序以及抑制剂处理实验的验证，筛选并证明了TGFβ信号通路参与尾部退化。我们通过对TGFβ通路抑制样本的比较转录组数据分析，进一步研究了TGFβ信号通路的下游基因网络。结合qRT-PCR验证，我们确定了四个关键的基因功能类别，包括离子转运体/水通道、细胞外基质结构成分、细胞外基质组织和细胞极性建立。此外，还对海鞘和其他物种进行了跨物种比较分析，以了解海鞘中基因调控的保守性和差异性。总体而言，我们的工作确定了海鞘尾部退化中一个关键的基因调控途径，并为理解幼虫变态的分子机制提供了几个潜在的下游靶点。
