Abstract
An ancient evolutionary innovation of a novel cell-type, the stinging cell (cnidocyte), appeared \600 million years ago in the phylum Cnidaria (sea anemones, corals, hydroids, and jellyfish). A complex bursting nano-injector of venom, the cnidocyst, is embedded in cnidocytes and enables cnidarians paralyzing prey and predators, contributing to this phylum\textquoterights evolutionary success. In this work, we show that post-transcriptional regulation by a pan-cnidarian microRNA, miR-2022, is essential for biogenesis of these cells. By manipulation of miR-2022 levels in a transgenic reporter line of cnidocytes in the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis, followed by transcriptomics, single-cell data analysis, prey paralysis assays, and cell sorting of transgenic cnidocytes, we reveal that miR-2022 enables cnidocyte biogenesis, while exhibiting a conserved expression domain with its targets in cnidocytes of other cnidarian species. Thus, here we reveal one of nature\textquoterights most ancient microRNA-regulated processes by studying the functional basis for its conservation.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.
| Original language | English (Ireland) |
|---|---|
| Journal | Cell Reports |
| Volume | 42 |
| Issue number | 9 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Jan 2023 |
Authors (Note for portal: view the doc link for the full list of authors)
- Authors
- Arie Fridrich and Miguel Salinas-Saaverda and Itamar Kozlolvski and Joachim M Surm and Eleni Chrysostomou and Abhinandan M Tripathi and Uri Frank and Yehu Moran