Exploring the evolution of animal cell adhesion mechanisms : characterization of the cadherin-catenin complex of the sea anemone, nematostella vectensis
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- This dissertation investigates the evolution of cell-cell adhesion in animals. Cell-cell adhesion is the process by which cells interact and attach to neighboring cells through specialized protein complexes, and it is a fundamental necessity for the formation and integrity of tissues. Cell adhesion is therefore a universal property of all multicellular organisms, and represents a profound novelty that was likely coincident with the origin of animal multicellularity. Yet despite its necessity for the formation of multicellular structures, there is surprising diversity in the mechanisms by which cells adhere to one another across the different lineages of multicellular eukaryotic life (e.g., animals, plants, and fungi). In this dissertation, I test whether one specialized protein complex, the cadherin-catenin complex, is a deeply conserved cell-cell adhesion module in animals. In this work, I focus on the extant non-bilaterian animals, which are the living representatives of some of the earliest branches of the animal tree of life, and thus provide important phylogenetic context for testing hypotheses surrounding the evolution of cell-cell adhesion in early animals. Using a combination of biochemistry and functional genetic approaches, I show that a bonafide cadherin-catenin complex is present in the cnidarian sea anemone, Nematostella vectensis, and demonstrate that many of the properties of the complex known from vertebrates were likely present in the last common bilaterian-cnidarian ancestor. Specifically, I provide evidence that the complex can be reconstituted from its purified components in vitro, and demonstrate that it is necessary for cell-cell adhesion and embryogenesis in the anemone embryo. In another line of evidence, I examine the structure and function of vinculin, a catenin-like adhesion protein, in the sea sponge Oscarella pearsei. I provide evidence that sponge tissues are organized like true epithelial tissues found in other animals with cadherin-catenin-associated junctional complexes, and that many of the properties of vinculin are conserved between sponges and bilaterian animals. Taken together, these data suggest that the properties of the cadherin-catenin complex are deeply conserved in animals, and support the notion that cadherin-catenin-mediated cell-cell adhesion may extend to the earliest periods of animal evolution.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Form | electronic resource; remote; computer; online resource |
| Extent | 1 online resource. |
| Place | California |
| Place | [Stanford, California] |
| Publisher | [Stanford University] |
| Copyright date | 2018; ©2018 |
| Publication date | 2018; 2018 |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | English |
Creators/Contributors
| Author | Clarke, Donald Nathaniel |
|---|---|
| Degree supervisor | Lowe, Christopher, (Associate professor of biology) |
| Thesis advisor | Lowe, Christopher, (Associate professor of biology) |
| Thesis advisor | Nelson, W. J. (W. James) |
| Thesis advisor | Simon, Michael, (Biology professor) |
| Thesis advisor | Weis, William I |
| Degree committee member | Nelson, W. J. (W. James) |
| Degree committee member | Simon, Michael, (Biology professor) |
| Degree committee member | Weis, William I |
| Associated with | Stanford University, Department of Biology. |
Subjects
| Genre | Theses |
|---|---|
| Genre | Text |
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | Donald Nathaniel Clarke. |
|---|---|
| Note | Submitted to the Department of Biology. |
| Thesis | Thesis Ph.D. Stanford University 2018. |
| Location | electronic resource |
Access conditions
- Copyright
- © 2018 by Donald Nathaniel Clarke
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
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