Wang Jun, Xu Yangyi, Guo Zhaoyang, Kanika Nusrat Hasan, Hou Xin, Chen Xiaowen, Wang Chenghui
Key Laboratory of Freshwater Aquatic Genetic Resources Certificated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Fisheries Science Education, Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Aquaculture, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai, 201306, China.
Key Laboratory of Freshwater Aquatic Genetic Resources Certificated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Fisheries Science Education, Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Aquaculture, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai, 201306, China.
Dev Biol. 2025 Sep;525:240-248. doi: 10.1016/j.ydbio.2025.06.010. Epub 2025 Jun 10.
Limb regeneration is a widespread phenomenon among animals, yet the underlying molecular mechanisms remain incompletely understood. Crustaceans like the Chinese mitten crab (Eriocheir sinensis), possess the remarkable ability to regrow lost limbs through a highly regulated regenerative process. In this study, we investigated the molecular mechanisms underlying limb regeneration in E. sinensis by integrating morphological and histological analyses, spatiotemporal mRNA expression profiling of TORC1 pathway genes, and RNA interference of Slc7a5 and TOR genes. Our results demonstrated that key genes within the TORC1 pathway, including Vatb, Rraga, Rragd, TOR, and S6K1, exhibit distinct expression patterns at different stages of limb regeneration, varying across developmental periods. Furthermore, in-situ hybridization and targeted knockdown of Slc7a5 and TOR genes significantly affected the rate of limb regeneration, highlighting their crucial roles in promoting blastema formation, papilla development, and ultimately, limb regeneration. Overall, our research reveals that Slc7a5 gene regulation within the TORC1 pathway significantly influences cell proliferation during limb regeneration in E. sinensis, thereby advancing our understanding of the role of TORC1 signaling in crustacean limb regeneration.
肢体再生是动物界普遍存在的现象，但其潜在的分子机制仍未完全了解。像中华绒螯蟹（Eriocheir sinensis）这样的甲壳类动物，具有通过高度调控的再生过程重新长出失去肢体的非凡能力。在本研究中，我们通过整合形态学和组织学分析、TORC1通路基因的时空mRNA表达谱分析以及Slc7a5和TOR基因的RNA干扰，研究了中华绒螯蟹肢体再生的分子机制。我们的结果表明，TORC1通路中的关键基因，包括Vatb、Rraga、Rragd、TOR和S6K1，在肢体再生的不同阶段表现出不同的表达模式，在不同发育时期有所变化。此外，原位杂交以及对Slc7a5和TOR基因的靶向敲低显著影响了肢体再生的速度，突出了它们在促进芽基形成、乳头发育以及最终肢体再生中的关键作用。总体而言，我们的研究表明，TORC1通路内的Slc7a5基因调控在中华绒螯蟹肢体再生过程中显著影响细胞增殖，从而加深了我们对TORC1信号在甲壳类动物肢体再生中作用的理解。
