planarian-ovary-dissection-for-ultrastructural-analysis-antibody

Planarian Ovary Dissection for Ultrastructural Analysis and Antibody Staining

Accessibility to germ cells allows the study of germ cell development, meiosis, and recombination. The sexual biotype of the freshwater planarian, ...

Howard Hughes Medical Institute

University of California Los Angeles

The interrelationship between endogenous microbiota, the immune system, and tissue regeneration is an area of intense research due to its potential therapeutic applications. We investigated this relationship in Schmidtea mediterranea, a model organism capable of regenerating any and all of its adult tissues. Microbiome characterization revealed a high Bacteroidetes to Proteobacteria ratio in healthy animals. Perturbations eliciting an expansion of Proteobacteria coincided with ectopic lesions and tissue degeneration. The culture of these bacteria yielded a strain of Pseudomonas capable of inducing progressive tissue degeneration. RNAi screening uncovered a TAK1 innate immune signaling module underlying compromised tissue homeostasis and regeneration during infection. TAK1/MKK/p38 signaling mediated opposing regulation of apoptosis during infection versus normal tissue regeneration. Given the complex role of inflammation in either hindering or supporting reparative wound healing and regeneration, this invertebrate model provides a basis for dissecting the duality of evolutionarily conserved inflammatory signaling in complex, multi-organ adult tissue regeneration.

Pathogenic shifts in endogenous microbiota impede tissue regeneration via distinct activation of TAK1/MKK/p38.

Planarian neoblasts are pluripotent, adult somatic stem cells and lineage-primed progenitors that are required for the production and maintenance of all differentiated cell types, including the germline. Neoblasts, originally defined as undifferentiated cells residing in the adult parenchyma, are frequently compared to embryonic stem cells yet their developmental origin remains obscure. We investigated the provenance of neoblasts during  embryogenesis, and report that neoblasts arise from an anarchic, cycling  population wholly responsible for production of all temporary and definitive organs during embryogenesis. Early embryonic  cells are molecularly and functionally distinct from neoblasts: they express unique cohorts of early embryo enriched transcripts and behave differently than neoblasts in cell transplantation assays. Neoblast lineages arise as organogenesis begins and are required for construction of all major organ systems during embryogenesis. These subpopulations are continuously generated during adulthood, where they act as agents of tissue homeostasis and regeneration.

Embryonic origin of adult stem cells required for tissue homeostasis and regeneration.

Loss of heterozygosity through inbreeding or mitotic errors leads to reductions in progeny survival and fertility. Loss of heterozygosity is particularly exacerbated in geographically isolated populations, which are prone to inbreeding depression and faster rates of extinction. The regenerative capacities of the hermaphroditic biotype of the planarian Schmidtea mediterranea allowed us to perform a systematic genetic test of Mendelian segregation and study the loss of heterozygosity in the Spiralian superclade in general and planarians in particular. We discovered that ~300 Mb (~37.5%) of the genome retains heterozygosity even after ten generations of inbreeding, and show that these chromosomal regions have low diversity and recombination rates in wild populations. Our genetic and genomic analyses establish S. mediterranea as a genetically tractable system. The research also opens the door to study the evolutionary basis of non-Mendelian mechanisms, the adaptive advantages of chromosome structural heterozygotes and their potential relationship to the robust regenerative capacities of planarians.

Widespread maintenance of genome heterozygosity in Schmidtea mediterranea.

The ability to efficiently visualize and manipulate chromosomes is fundamental to understanding the genome architecture of organisms. Conventional chromosome preparation protocols developed for mammalian cells and those relying on species-specific conditions are not suitable for many invertebrates. Hence, a simple and inexpensive chromosome preparation protocol, adaptable to multiple invertebrate species, is needed.

An adaptable chromosome preparation methodology for use in invertebrate research organisms.

Proliferating cells known as neoblasts include pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) that sustain tissue homeostasis and regeneration of lost body parts in planarians. However, the lack of markers to prospectively identify and isolate these adult PSCs has significantly hampered their characterization. We used single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) and single-cell transplantation to address this long-standing issue. Large-scale scRNA-seq of sorted neoblasts unveiled a novel subtype of neoblast (Nb2) characterized by high levels of PIWI-1 mRNA and protein and marked by a conserved cell-surface protein-coding gene, tetraspanin 1 (tspan-1). tspan-1-positive cells survived sub-lethal irradiation, underwent clonal expansion to repopulate whole animals, and when purified with an anti-TSPAN-1 antibody, rescued the viability of lethally irradiated animals after single-cell transplantation. The first prospective isolation of an adult PSC bridges a conceptual dichotomy between functionally and molecularly defined neoblasts, shedding light on mechanisms governing in vivo pluripotency and a source of regeneration in animals. VIDEO ABSTRACT.

Prospectively Isolated Tetraspanin Neoblasts Are Adult Pluripotent Stem Cells Underlying Planaria Regeneration.

The rapid spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is due to the high rates of transmission by individuals who are asymptomatic at the time of transmission. Frequent, widespread testing of the asymptomatic population for SARS-CoV-2 is essential to suppress viral transmission. Despite increases in testing capacity, multiple challenges remain in deploying traditional reverse transcription and quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) tests at the scale required for population screening of asymptomatic individuals. We have developed SwabSeq, a high-throughput testing platform for SARS-CoV-2 that uses next-generation sequencing as a readout. SwabSeq employs sample-specific molecular barcodes to enable thousands of samples to be combined and simultaneously analyzed for the presence or absence of SARS-CoV-2 in a single run. Importantly, SwabSeq incorporates an  RNA standard that mimics the viral amplicon, but can be distinguished by sequencing. This standard allows for end-point rather than quantitative PCR, improves quantitation, reduces requirements for automation and sample-to-sample normalization, enables purification-free detection, and gives better ability to call true negatives. After setting up SwabSeq in a high-complexity CLIA laboratory, we performed more than 80,000 tests for COVID-19 in less than two months, confirming in a real world setting that SwabSeq inexpensively delivers highly sensitive and specific results at scale, with a turn-around of less than 24 hours. Our clinical laboratory uses SwabSeq to test both nasal and saliva samples without RNA extraction, while maintaining analytical sensitivity comparable to or better than traditional RT-qPCR tests. Moving forward, SwabSeq can rapidly scale up testing to mitigate devastating spread of novel pathogens.

Swab-Seq: A high-throughput platform for massively scaled up SARS-CoV-2 testing.

Genetic regulation of gene expression underlies variation in disease risk and other complex traits. The effect of expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) varies across cell types; however, the complexity of mammalian tissues makes studying cell-type eQTLs highly challenging. We developed a novel approach in the model nematode  that uses single-cell RNA sequencing to map eQTLs at cellular resolution in a single one-pot experiment. We mapped eQTLs across cell types in an extremely large population of genetically distinct  individuals. We found cell-type-specific  eQTL hotspots that affect the expression of core pathways in the relevant cell types. Finally, we found single-cell-specific eQTL effects in the nervous system, including an eQTL with opposite effects in two individual neurons. Our results show that eQTL effects can be specific down to the level of single cells.

Whole-organism eQTL mapping at cellular resolution with single-cell sequencing.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has caused one of the worst pandemics in recent history. Few reports have revealed that SARS-CoV-2 was spreading in the United States as early as the end of January. In this study, we aimed to determine if SARS-CoV-2 had been circulating in the Los Angeles (LA) area at a time when access to diagnostic testing for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was severely limited.

Retrospective Detection of SARS-CoV-2 in Symptomatic Patients prior to Widespread Diagnostic Testing in Southern California.

The squamates (lizards and snakes) are close relatives of birds and mammals, with more than 10,000 described species that display extensive variation in a number of important biological traits, including coloration, venom production, and regeneration. Due to a lack of genomic tools, few genetic studies in squamates have been carried out. The leopard gecko, Eublepharis macularius, is a popular companion animal, and displays a variety of coloration patterns. We took advantage of a large breeding colony and used linkage analysis, synteny, and homozygosity mapping to investigate a spontaneous semi-dominant mutation, "Lemon Frost", that produces white coloration and causes skin tumors (iridophoroma). We localized the mutation to a single locus which contains a strong candidate gene, SPINT1, a tumor suppressor implicated in human skin cutaneous melanoma (SKCM) and over-proliferation of epithelial cells in mice and zebrafish. Our work establishes the leopard gecko as a tractable genetic system and suggests that a tumor suppressor in melanocytes in humans can also suppress tumor development in iridophores in lizards.

Genetics of white color and iridophoroma in "Lemon Frost" leopard geckos.

Frequent and widespread testing of members of the population who are asymptomatic for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is essential for the mitigation of the transmission of the virus. Despite the recent increases in testing capacity, tests based on quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) assays cannot be easily deployed at the scale required for population-wide screening. Here, we show that next-generation sequencing of pooled samples tagged with sample-specific molecular barcodes enables the testing of thousands of nasal or saliva samples for SARS-CoV-2 RNA in a single run without the need for RNA extraction. The assay, which we named SwabSeq, incorporates a synthetic RNA standard that facilitates end-point quantification and the calling of true negatives, and that reduces the requirements for automation, purification and sample-to-sample normalization. We used SwabSeq to perform 80,000 tests, with an analytical sensitivity and specificity comparable to or better than traditional qPCR tests, in less than two months with turnaround times of less than 24 h. SwabSeq could be rapidly adapted for the detection of other pathogens.

Longhua Guo

Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Planarian Ovary Dissection for Ultrastructural Analysis and Antibody Staining