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Evidence that polycystins are involved in Hydra cnidocyte discharge

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Invertebrate Neuroscience

Abstract

Like other cnidarians, the freshwater organism Hydra is characterized by the possession of cnidocytes (stinging cells). Most cnidocytes are located on hydra tentacles, where they are organized along with sensory cells and ganglion cells into battery complexes. The function of the battery complexes is to integrate multiple types of stimuli for the regulation of cnidocyte discharge. The molecular mechanisms controlling the discharge of cnidocytes are not yet fully understood, but it is known that discharge depends on extracellular Ca2+ and that mechanically induced cnidocyte discharge can be enhanced by the presence of prey extracts and other chemicals. Experiments in this paper show that a PKD2 (polycystin 2) transient receptor potential (TRP) channel is expressed in hydra tentacles and bases. PKD2 (TRPP) channels belong to the TRP channel superfamily and are non-selective Ca2+ channels involved in the transduction of both mechanical and chemical stimuli in other organisms. Non-specific PKD2 channel inhibitors Neo (neomycin) and Gd3+ (gadolinium) inhibit both prey capture and cnidocyte discharge in hydra. The PKD2 activator Trip (triptolide) enhances cnidocyte discharge in both starved and satiated hydra and reduces the inhibition of cnidocyte discharge caused by Neo. PKD1 and 2 proteins are known to act together to transduce mechanical and chemical stimuli; in situ hybridization experiments show that a PKD1 gene is expressed in hydra tentacles and bases, suggesting that polycystins play a direct or indirect role in cnidocyte discharge.

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Acknowledgements

Hydra magnipapillata strain 105 was the kind gift of Dr. Robert Steele. Maria Villa, an undergraduate student in the lab, performed many of the cnidocyte capture assays. This work was supported by a National Science Foundation Grant (1243855) and a PSC-CUNY Grant (67524-00 45).

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  1. Department of Biological Sciences and Geology, Queensborough Community College, Bayside, NY, 11364, USA

    Susan McLaughlin

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McLaughlin, S. Evidence that polycystins are involved in Hydra cnidocyte discharge. Invert Neurosci 17, 1 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10158-016-0194-3

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