Abstract
Many marine invertebrates are capable of providing an abundant supply of oocytes that are fertilized external to the female body, thereby making these specimens well suited for studies of development. Along with intensively analyzed model systems belonging to such groups as echinoderms, tunicates, mollusks, and annelids, various lesser-studied taxa can undergo an external mode of fertilization. For example, nemertean worms constitute a relatively small phylum of marine protostome worms whose optically clear oocytes are easily collected and fertilized in the laboratory. Thus, to help promote the use of nemertean oocytes as a potential model in embryological analyses, this chapter begins by describing general methods for obtaining adults and for handling their gametes. After presenting such protocols, this chapter concludes with some representative results obtained with these specimens by summarizing the roles played by adenosine monophosphate-activated kinase (AMPK) during oocyte maturation and by c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) during oocyte aging and death.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Cavanaugh GM (1956) Formulae and methods VI of the marine biological laboratory chemical room. Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, MA
Escalona JR, Stricker SA (2014) Immunoblotting analyses of changes in protein phosphorylations during oocyte maturation in marine nemertean worms. In: Carroll DJ, Stricker SA (eds) Methods in molecular biology: developmental biology of the sea urchin and other marine invertebrate model systems. Humana, New York, pp 237–247
Kvist S, Laumer CE, Junoy J, Giribet G (2014) New insights into the phylogeny, systematics, and DNA barcoding of Nemertea. Invertebr Syst 28:287–308
Smythe TL, Stricker SA (2005) Germinal vesicle breakdown is not fully dependent on MAPK activation in maturing oocytes of marine nemertean worms. Mol Reprod Dev 70:91–102
Stricker SA (1987) Phylum Nemertea. In: Strathmann M (ed) Reproduction and development of marine invertebrates of the Northern Pacific Coast. University of Washington, Seattle, pp 129–137
Stricker SA (1996) Repetitive calcium waves induced by fertilization in the nemertean worm Cerebratulus lacteus. Dev Biol 176:243–363
Stricker SA (1997) Intracellular injections of a soluble sperm factor trigger calcium oscillations and meiotic maturation in the unfertilized oocytes of a marine worm. Dev Biol 186:185–201
Stricker SA (2000) Confocal microscopy of intracellular calcium dynamics during fertilization. BioTechniques 29:492–498
Stricker SA (2011) Potential upstream regulators and downstream targets of AMP-activated kinase signaling during oocyte maturation in a marine worm. Reproduction 142:1–12
Stricker SA (2012) Inhibition of germinal vesicle breakdown by antioxidants and the roles of signaling pathways related to nitric oxide and cGMP during meiotic resumption in oocytes of a marine worm. Reproduction 143:261–270
Stricker SA, Cloney RA (1983) The ultrastructure of venom-producing cells in the nemertean Paranemertes peregrina. J Morphol 177:89–107
Stricker SA, Ravichandran N (2017) The potential roles of c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) during the maturation and aging of oocytes produced by a marine protostome worm. Zygote 25:686–696
Stricker SA, Smythe TL (2000) Multiple triggers of oocyte maturation in nemertean worms: the roles of calcium and serotonin. J Exp Zool 287:243–261
Stricker SA, Smythe TL (2001) 5-HT causes an increase in cAMP that stimulates, rather than inhibits, oocyte maturation in marine nemertean worms. Development 128:1415–1427
Stricker SA, Smythe TL (2003) Endoplasmic reticulum reorganizations and Ca2+ signaling in maturing and fertilized oocytes of marine protosome worms: the roles of MAPKs and MPF. Development 130:2867–2879
Stricker SA, Smythe TL (2006a) Differing mechanisms of cAMP- versus seawater-induced oocyte maturation in marine nemertean worms I. The roles of serine/threonine kinases and phosphatases. Mol Reprod Dev 73:1578–1590
Stricker SA, Smythe TL (2006b) Differing mechanisms of cAMP- versus seawater-induced oocyte maturation in marine nemertean worms II. The roles of tyrosine kinases and phosphatases. Mol Reprod Dev 73:1564–1577
Stricker SA, Silva R, Smythe T (1998) Calcium and endoplasmic reticulum dynamics during oocyte maturation and fertilization in the marine worm Cerebratulus lacteus. Dev Biol 203:305–322
Stricker SA, Smythe TL, Miller LA, Norenburg JL (2001) Comparative biology of oogenesis in nemertean worms. Acta Zool 82:213–230
Stricker SA, Carroll DJ, Tsui WL (2010a) Roles of Src family kinases during fertilization and the first cell cycle in the marine protostome worm Cerebratulus. Int J Dev Biol 54:787–793
Stricker SA, Escalona J, Abernathy S, Marquardt A (2010b) Pharmacological analyses of protein kinases regulating egg maturation in marine nemertean worms: a review and comparison with mammalian eggs. Mar Drugs 8:2417–2434
Stricker SA, Swiderek L, Nguyen T (2010c) Stimulators of AMP-activated kinase (AMPK) inhibit seawater- but not cAMP-induced oocyte maturation in a marine worm: implications for interactions between cAMP and AMPK signaling. Mol Reprod Dev 77:497–510
Stricker SA, Cline C, Goodrich D (2013) Oocyte maturation and fertilization in marine nemertean worms: using similar sorts of signaling pathways as in mammals, but often with differing results. Biol Bull 224:137–155
Stricker SA, Beckstrom B, Mendoza C, Stanislawski E, Wodajo T (2016) Oocyte aging in a marine protostome worm: the roles of maturation promoting factor and extracellular signal regulated kinase form of mitogen-activated protein kinase. Develop Growth Differ 58:250–259
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Stricker, S.A. (2018). Marine Nemertean Worms for Studies of Oocyte Maturation and Aging. In: Kloc, M., Kubiak, J. (eds) Marine Organisms as Model Systems in Biology and Medicine. Results and Problems in Cell Differentiation, vol 65. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92486-1_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92486-1_1
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-92485-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-92486-1
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)