Abstract
Studies of tissue regeneration and host-pathogen interactions using the model planarian Schmidtea mediterranea have been performed at an experimental temperature of 19 °C. S. mediterranea planarians exposed to 19 °C–32 °C were observed for survival, mobility, feeding and regeneration for three months and elimination of the Staphylococcus aureus pathogen over six days. S. mediterranea planarians died at 30 °C–32 °C after 18 days of observation but tolerated temperatures of 19 °C up to 28 °C with non-significant differences in mobility and feeding behavior. Genetic malleability tested by RNAi feeding was still efficient at 26 °C and 28 °C. Concerning the immune capacity of planarians, we reported an exacerbation of the immune response in worms infected by S. aureus at 26 °C and 28 °C. These observations suggest a temperature modulation of planarian stem cells and illustrate the importance of modulating experimental temperature when using planarians as model organisms to study regeneration and immune response.
Highlights
Planarians are invertebrate flatworms belonging to the Platyhelminthe branch[1]
When planarians were exposed to a cyclical rhythm of 24/48 hour reaching a maximum temperature of 30 °C, all planarians died after 24 hours of incubation whereas negative control planarians maintained at 19 °C were all alive
When planarians were exposed to temperature increased by 1 °C every 25 min up to 37 °C, all planarians exposed to ≥34 °C were found dead after 24 hours of incubation
Summary
Planarians are invertebrate flatworms belonging to the Platyhelminthe branch[1]. They are complex organisms with a central nervous system, a digestive tract and an excretory system[2]. Planarians, mainly the species Schmidtea mediterranea, are considered as model organisms to study the mechanisms of regeneration and development[5]. Their ability to regenerate any tissue part after amputation is due to the presence of a high proportion (25%) of stem cells called neoblasts which include pluripotent stem cells[6]. S. mediterranea eliminates human pathogens such as Staphylococcus aureus[7] All these capacities make the planarian a “one of a kind” model organism to identify and study new molecules and new mechanisms of defense that could be conserved during evolution. We studied the main physiological parameters (viability, ability to feed, mobility, regeneration, genetic silencing and antimicrobial response) and determined changes in the planarian host-pathogen interactions by using S. aureus as an example
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