Bodó, Kornélia and Boros, Ákos and Brotzki da Costa, Chayeen and Tolnai, Gréta and Rumpler, Éva and László, Zoltán and Nagyéri, György and Németh, Péter and Kille, Peter and Molnár, László and Engelmann, Péter (2025) A novel beta-catenin homologue from the earthworm Eisenia andrei: Identification and characterization during embryonic development, segment regeneration, and immune response. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL MACROMOLECULES, 306 (1). No. 141397. ISSN 0141-8130
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Abstract
Evolutionarily, Wnt/β-catenin signaling is well-conserved and supports several key cell-biological processes (e.g. adhesion and proliferation). Its crucial component, β-catenin, has been described in several organisms, however, its identification and characterization are notably lacking in annelid earthworms. Here, we report a novel β-catenin homologue from the earthworm Eisenia andrei, termed Ea-β-catenin. The full-length 3253 nt Ea-β-catenin mRNA includes an open reading frame of 2499 nt encoding a putative protein with 833 amino acid residues that comprise 11 classical armadillo-repeat regions. Phylogenetic analysis indicates that Ea-β-catenin shows strong homology with Lophotrochozoan β-catenins. Ubiquitous, but variable expressions of Ea-β-catenin were observed in distinct earthworm tissues. During embryogenesis, Ea-β-catenin mRNA gradually increased from the E1 to E4 developmental stages. Regeneration experiments revealed an inverse correlation between Ea-β-catenin mRNA levels and the rate of EdU+/PY489-β-catenin+ proliferating cells during the second week of the posterior blastema formation. In vitro exposures to poly(I:C) and zymosan significantly increased Ea-β-catenin mRNA levels, while small molecule Wnt-pathway modulators such as LiCl or iCRT14 increased or decreased Ea-β-catenin mRNA expression, and nuclear translocation of PY489-β-catenin, respectively. These novel results pave the way for follow-up studies aimed at characterizing additional members of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway that may be involved in embryonic and/or postembryonic development, as well as innate immunity in earthworms.
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| Additional Information: | Funding Agency and Grant Number: Medical School Research Foundation University of Pecs; University of Pecs [020_2024_PTE_RK/7, 020_2024_PTE_RK/36]; National Brain Project (BLRI); Laboratory of Water Science and Water Security (HUN-REN, BLRI); Ministry of Culture and Innovation of Hungary from the National Research, Development and Innovation Fund under the TKP2021 funding scheme; Ministry for Innovation and Technology [UNKP-19-3-I]; Janos Bolyai Research Scholarship of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences; Gyorgy Romhanyi Research Scholarship of the University of Pecs, Medical School; [KA-2022-03]; [EKOP-24-4-II-PTE-130]; [GINOP-232-15-2016-00050]; [EFOP-361-16-2016-00004]; [NAP2022-I-10/2022]; [RRF 2.3.1-21-2022-00008]; [TKP2021-EGA-10] Funding text: This research was funded by the Medical School Research Foundation University of Pecs (KA-2022-03), University of Pecs (020_2024_PTE_RK/7, 020_2024_PTE_RK/36), EKOP-24-4-II-PTE-130, GINOP-232-15-2016-00050, EFOP-361-16-2016-00004, National Brain Project (NAP2022-I-10/2022, BLRI), Laboratory of Water Science and Water Security (RRF 2.3.1-21-2022-00008, HUN-REN, BLRI). Project No. TKP2021-EGA-10 has been implemented with the support provided by the Ministry of Culture and Innovation of Hungary from the National Research, Development and Innovation Fund, financed under the TKP2021 funding scheme. The work was supported by the UNKP-19-3-I New National Excellence Program of the Ministry for Innovation and Technology, K.B.; and the Janos Bolyai Research Scholarship of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, P.E. A.B. was supported by the Gyorgy Romhanyi Research Scholarship of the University of Pecs, Medical School. We express our thanks to Soft-Flow Ltd. (Pecs, Hungary) allowing us to use the Olympus ScanR high-content screening station. We are thankful to Daniel Dunai (Faculty of Sciences, University of Pecs) for providing earthworm specimens. We would like to acknowledge the help of Tamas Nagy, David Szinger, and David Ernszt (Medical School, Clinical Center, University of Pecs) and we appreciate the helpful discussion about the beta-catenin specific antibodies of Vitalij Kozin (St. Petersburg State University, Russia). Part number: 1 |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Development, Immune response, Intracellular signaling, Molecular interactions, Morphogens, Regeneration |
| Subjects: | Q Science / természettudomány > QH Natural history / természetrajz > QH301 Biology / biológia |
| SWORD Depositor: | MTMT SWORD |
| Depositing User: | MTMT SWORD |
| Date Deposited: | 26 Jul 2026 20:59 |
| Last Modified: | 26 Jul 2026 20:59 |
| URI: | https://real.mtak.hu/id/eprint/243164 |
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