Wnt/β-catenin Signaling Pathway Regulates Cell Proliferation but Not Muscle Dedifferentiation nor Apoptosis During Sea Cucumber Intestinal Regeneration

Regeneration is a key developmental process by which organisms recover vital tissue and organ components following injury or disease. A growing interest is focused on the elucidation and characterization of the molecular mechanisms involved in these regenerative processes. We have now analyzed the possible role of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway on the regeneration of the intestine in the sea cucumber Holothuria glaberrima. For this we have studied the expression in vivo of Wnt-associated genes and have implemented the use of Dicer-substrate interference RNA (DsiRNA) to knockdown the expression of β-catenin transcript on gut rudiment explants. Neither cell dedifferentiation nor apoptosis were affected by the reduction of β-catenin transcripts in the gut rudiment explants. Yet, the number of proliferating cells decreased significantly following the interference, suggesting that the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway plays a significant role in cell proliferation, but not in cell dedifferentiation nor apoptosis during the regeneration of the intestine. The development of the in vitro RNAi protocol is a significant step in analyzing specific gene functions involved in echinoderm regeneration.