Int. J. Dev. Biol. 50: 63 - 70 (2006)

https://doi.org/10.1387/ijdb.052012ss

Vol 50, Issue 1

Metamorphosis of Hydractinia echinata (Cnidaria) is caspase-dependent

Original Article | Published: 1 December 2005

Stefanie Seipp*^,1, Karola Wittig¹, Beate Stiening², Angelika Böttger² and Thomas Leitz¹

¹Developmental Biology of Animals, Department of Biology, University of Kaiserslautern and ²Department Biologie II, University of München, Planegg-Martinsried, Germany. s.seipp@carlroth.de

Abstract

Apoptotic cell death plays an important role in many developmental pathways in multicellular animals. Here, we show that metamorphosis in the basal invertebrate Hydractinia echinata (Cnidaria) depends on the activity of caspases, the central enzymes in apoptosis. Caspases are activated during metamorphosis and this activity can be measured with caspase-3 specific fluorogenic substrates. In affinity labelling experiments 23/25 kDa bands were obtained, which represented active caspase. Specific inhibition of caspase activity with caspase-3 inhibitors abolished metamorphosis completely, reversibly and in a dose-dependent manner. This suggests that caspase activity is indispensable for metamorphosis in Hydractinia echinata.

Keywords

Metamorphosis, apoptosis, programmed cell death, caspase 3, Hydractinia echinata