[Coral-List] Ubiquitous macropinocytosis in corals

[Sylvie Tambutté]

Dear colleagues, 

We would like to draw your attention to a paper we recently published
entitled “Ubiquitous macropinocytosis in anthozoans” by  Ganot et al,  eLife
2020;9:e50022 doi:  <https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.50022>
10.7554/eLife.50022

This paper deals with transport and exchange of fluids/ions/molecules
through coral tissues which, contrary to ions, is poorly documented, despite
the many questions raised from the peculiar aspects of feeding, signaling,
xenobiotic absorption, etc
. For example, pollution by plastics is of
primary concern for the global marine environment and coral health. In this
article, we used the reef-building coral Stylophora pistillata and different
tracers (dextrans, latex beads, gold particles) to follow the flow of
nanoparticles from the surrounding seawater down to cells’ cytoplasm of
every tissue. We show that after entering the general coelenteric cavity,
molecules disperse through the animal via the paracellular pathway to reach
every tissue layer. Then, they are internalized by the large majority of the
cells through a continuous endocytotic process called macropinocytosis, by
which cells take up large volumes of their surrounding medium.
Macropinocytosis was confirmed using specific inhibitors. This process was
polarized within the cell, with large vesicles of 350-600 nm in diameter
forming at the apical membrane and progressing basically. Nanoparticle
internalization dynamics was size dependent and differs between tissues.
Furthermore, we reveal that macropinocytosis is likely a major endocytic
pathway in other anthozoan species. Our results have implications  for coral
physiology including feeding and calcification but also regarding corals and
stressors and more specifically pollution by plastics.

 

All the best and keep safe,

 

Sylvie Tambutté

Coral Physiology Team leader 

Centre Scientifique de Monaco

8 Quai Antoine 1° 

98000 Monaco

www.centrescientifique.mc <http://www.centrescientifique.mc>