Planarian finds time(less) to fight infection

Gutiérrez-Gutiérrez, Óscar; Felix, Daniel A.; González‐Estévez, Cristina

doi:10.1080/21505594.2017.1300735

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 59 publications

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“…Tim has drawn more and more attention in recent studies for its role in cancer 30 – 32 , also indicates its versatility. It also raises the possibility that immune response towards infection is one of the underlying reasons, given that the role of tim as a regulator of immune response has been recently revealed in Planarian 33 . A novel theory is also rising that through reprogramming of transcriptome in cells, aging turns off genes involved in homeostasis and turns on those involved in tissue-specific stresses, such as inflammation and DNA damage 34 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Clock gene expression and locomotor activity predict death in the last days of life in Drosophila melanogaster

Zhao

Warman

Cheeseman

2018

Sci Rep

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The importance of the circadian clock for the regulation of behaviour and physiology, and the molecular control of these rhythms by a set of clock genes are well defined. The circadian clock deteriorates with advancing age but the mechanism underlying is unclear. Here we recorded the expression of two key clock genes in young, middle-aged and old Drosophila using transgenic luciferase lines reporting period and timeless in vivo. We report a novel marker of imminent death in the expression of TIMELESS. In the days immediately preceding death TIMELESS expression increased to at least 150% of previous acrophase values (88.0% of n = 217) and lost circadian rhythmicity, which predicted death equally well in flies of different ages and under light and temperature cycles. We suggest this transient aberrant clock-gene expression is central to the mechanism of the disturbance in circadian behaviour before death (82.7% of n = 342). We also find that PERIOD expression in central-clock neurons remained robust with age, however PERIOD and TIMELESS in peripheral clocks showed a reduction in both expression level and rhythmicity. In conclusion, as flies age the molecular clock gradually declines at the peripheral level but continues to function at the central until days before death.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Clock gene expression and locomotor activity predict death in the last days of life in Drosophila melanogaster

Zhao

Warman

Cheeseman

2018

Sci Rep

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“…The unique ability of flatworms to regenerate a whole animal from very small fragments of itself constitutes a novel system for understanding many biological processes. Planarians are promising in research related to drug and alcohol interactions ( Ramakrishnan and Desaer, 2011 ; Moustakas et al, 2015 ), locomotory behaviors ( Deochand et al, 2018 ), circadian rhythms ( Gutiérrez-Gutiérrez et al, 2017 ; Tsoumtsa et al, 2017 ), cognition ( Abbott and Wong, 2008 ; Shomrat and Levin, 2013 ; Neuhof et al, 2016 ; Deochand et al, 2018 ), and sleep ( Omond et al, 2017 ; Omond et al, 2022 ), all within the same genetic individual. We offer our results as a starting point for future investigations into how regeneration may affect motor control and motor output, and the presence of a clock in the flatworm brain.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Persistence of Nocturnality in Decapitated and Bisected Flatworms

Omond

Lesku

2023

J Biol Rhythms

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The ability of flatworms to regenerate entire brain structures, and indeed much of their body from mere fragments of the whole animal, presents the unique opportunity to observe the development of day-night rhythms in adult animals. In many animals, young are arrhythmic, and their species-specific timing of activity develops as the animal matures. In this study, we created two flatworm cohorts, housed in isolation, that were regenerating either (1) the brain in a decapitated animal, or (2) major body structures in a bisected, tailless animal. In this way, we observed how bisection influenced the level of activity and diel rhythmicity, and how these developed as each flatworm regenerated. Here, we demonstrate that intact flatworms were predominantly active at night, with peaks in activity seen in the hours after lights-off and before lights-on. While decapitated and tailless flatworms could still move, both were less active than the original animal, and both segments retained a nocturnal lifestyle. Furthermore, decapitated flatworms, once regenerated, again showed a U-shaped pattern of nocturnal activity reminiscent of the two night-time peaks seen in the original animal. These results could be used to further investigate how regeneration may affect motor control and motor output, or to further investigate the presence of a clock in the flatworm brain.

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