Quantitative Analysis of Planarian Pigmentation

Overview

Journal Methods Mol Biol

Specialty Molecular Biology

Date 2023 Jul 10

PMID 37428383

Authors

Matthew Pittendreigh

Kaleigh Powers

Meenalosini Vimal Cruz

Jason Pellettieri

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The ommochrome and porphyrin body pigments that give freshwater planarians their brown color are produced by specialized dendritic cells located just beneath the epidermis. During embryonic development and regeneration, differentiation of new pigment cells gradually darkens newly formed tissue. Conversely, prolonged light exposure ablates pigment cells through a porphyrin-based mechanism similar to the one that causes light sensitivity in rare human disorders called porphyrias. Here, we describe a novel program using image-processing algorithms to quantify relative pigment levels in live animals and apply this program to analyze changes in bodily pigmentation induced by light exposure. This tool will facilitate further characterization of genetic pathways that affect pigment cell differentiation, ommochrome and porphyrin biosynthesis, and porphyrin-based photosensitivity.

References

MACRAE E . Localization of porphyrin fluorescence in planarians. Science. 1961; 134(3475):331-2. DOI: 10.1126/science.134.3475.331. View

He X, Lindsay-Mosher N, Li Y, Molinaro A, Pellettieri J, Pearson B . FOX and ETS family transcription factors regulate the pigment cell lineage in planarians. Development. 2017; 144(24):4540-4551. PMC: 5769623. DOI: 10.1242/dev.156349. View

Hase S, Wakamatsu K, Fujimoto K, Inaba A, Kobayashi K, Matsumoto M . Characterization of the pigment produced by the planarian, Dugesia ryukyuensis. Pigment Cell Res. 2006; 19(3):248-9. DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-0749.2006.00306.x. View

Brubacher J, Vieira A, Newmark P . Preparation of the planarian Schmidtea mediterranea for high-resolution histology and transmission electron microscopy. Nat Protoc. 2014; 9(3):661-73. PMC: 4097191. DOI: 10.1038/nprot.2014.041. View

Lindsay-Mosher N, Pearson B . The true colours of the flatworm: Mechanisms of pigment biosynthesis and pigment cell lineage development in planarians. Semin Cell Dev Biol. 2018; 87:37-44. DOI: 10.1016/j.semcdb.2018.05.010. View

Wang C, Han X, Li F, Huang S, Qin Y, Zhao X . Forkhead containing transcription factor Albino controls tetrapyrrole-based body pigmentation in planarian. Cell Discov. 2016; 2:16029. PMC: 4969599. DOI: 10.1038/celldisc.2016.29. View

Davies E, Lei K, Seidel C, Kroesen A, McKinney S, Guo L . Embryonic origin of adult stem cells required for tissue homeostasis and regeneration. Elife. 2017; 6. PMC: 5293490. DOI: 10.7554/eLife.21052. View

Schindelin J, Arganda-Carreras I, Frise E, Kaynig V, Longair M, Pietzsch T . Fiji: an open-source platform for biological-image analysis. Nat Methods. 2012; 9(7):676-82. PMC: 3855844. DOI: 10.1038/nmeth.2019. View

Reddien P . The Cellular and Molecular Basis for Planarian Regeneration. Cell. 2018; 175(2):327-345. PMC: 7706840. DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2018.09.021. View

10.

Phillips J . Heme biosynthesis and the porphyrias. Mol Genet Metab. 2019; 128(3):164-177. PMC: 7252266. DOI: 10.1016/j.ymgme.2019.04.008. View

11.

Stubenhaus B, Dustin J, Neverett E, Beaudry M, Nadeau L, Burk-McCoy E . Light-induced depigmentation in planarians models the pathophysiology of acute porphyrias. Elife. 2016; 5. PMC: 4887210. DOI: 10.7554/eLife.14175. View

12.

Palladini G, Margotta V, Conforti A, Carolei A . The pigmentary system of planaria. I. Morphology. Cell Tissue Res. 1979; 199(2):197-202. DOI: 10.1007/BF00236131. View

13.

Martin-Duran J, Monjo F, Romero R . Planarian embryology in the era of comparative developmental biology. Int J Dev Biol. 2012; 56(1-3):39-48. DOI: 10.1387/ijdb.113442jm. View

14.

Hill H . The function of melanin or six blind people examine an elephant. Bioessays. 1992; 14(1):49-56. DOI: 10.1002/bies.950140111. View