Search results for "Suberites"
showing 5 items of 135 documents
Initiation of an Aquaculture of Sponges for the Sustainable Production of Bioactive Metabolites in Open Systems: Example, Geodia cydonium.
1999
Among Metazoa, sponges (phylum Porifera) are the richest source for different bioactive compounds. The availability of the raw material is, however, restricted. To obtain enough of the bioactive compounds for application in human therapy, sponges have to be cultured in in vitro systems. One technique for the establishment of a long-term cell culture from sponges has recently been elaborated. Here, we present a procedure to cultivate tissue samples from sponges in an open system. The species Geodia cydonium, which produces bioactive compounds, has been selected. Tissue samples of approximately 10 g were attached to the bottoms of cultivation trays. After 2 to 3 days, the tissue samples forme…
Iron Induces Proliferation and Morphogenesis in Primmorphs from the Marine SpongeSuberites domuncula
2002
Dissociated cells from marine demosponges retain their proliferation capacity if they are allowed to form special aggregates, the primmorphs. On the basis of incorporation studies and septin gene expression, we show that Fe3+ ions are required for the proliferation of cells in primmorphs from Suberites domuncula. In parallel, Fe3+ induced the expression of ferritin and strongly stimulated the synthesis of spicules. This result is supported by the finding that the enzymatic activity of silicatein, converting organosilicon to silicic acid, depends on Fe3+. Moreover, the expression of a scavenger receptor molecule, possibly involved in the morphology of spicules, depends on the presence of Fe3…
The hypothetical ancestral animal the Urmetazoa: Telomerase activity in sponges [Porifera]
2003
Sponges (Porifera) represent the lowest metazoan phylum, characterized by a pronounced plasticity in the determination of cell lineages, and they are the closest related taxon to the hypothetical ancestral animal, the Urmetazoa, from which the metazoan lineages diverged. In a first approach to elucidate the molecular mechanisms controlling the switch from the cell lineage with a putative indefinite growth capacity to senescent, somatic cells, the activity of the telomerase as an indicator for immortality has been determined. The studies were performed with the marine demosponges Suberites domuncula and Geodia cydonium, in vivo with tissue but also in vitro using the primmorph system. Primmo…
The mitogen-activated protein kinase p38 pathway is conserved in metazoans: Cloning and activation of p38 of the SAPK2 subfamily from the sponge Sube…
2000
Our recent data suggest that during auto- and allograft recognition in sponges (Porifera), cytokines are differentially expressed. Since the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signal transduction modulates the synthesis and release of cytokines, we intended to identify one key molecule of this pathway. Therefore, a cDNA from the marine sponge Suberites domuncula encoding the MAPK was isolated and analyzed. Its encoded protein is 366 amino acids long (calculated Mr 42 209), has a TGY dual phosphorylation motif in protein kinase subdomain VIII and displays highest overall similarity to the mammalian p38 stress activated protein kinase (SAPK2), one subfamily of MAPKs. The sponge protein w…
Emergence and Disappearance of an Immune Molecule, an Antimicrobial Lectin, in Basal Metazoa
2003
Sponges (phylum Porifera) represent the evolutionarily oldest metazoans that comprise already a complex immune system and are related to the crown taxa of the protostomians and the deuterostomians. Here, we demonstrate the existence of a tachylectin-related protein in the demosponge Suberites domuncula, termed Suberites lectin. The MAPK pathway was activated in response to lipopolysaccharide treatment of the three-dimensional cell aggregates, the primmorphs; this process was abolished by the monosaccharide D-GlcNAc. The cDNA encoding the S. domuncula lectin was identified and cloned; it comprises 238 amino acids (26 kDa) in the open reading frame. The deduced protein has one potential trans…