Novel molecular factors in nematocyst assembly and morphogenesis

刺胞动物胞囊是动物界中最复杂的细胞器，具有捕食和防御功能。它的超快，鱼叉般的排放，伴随着毒素的释放，需要具有不寻常的生物力学特性的分子因子。我们先前对水螅囊蛋白质组的分析揭示了构成水螅囊的400多个分子因子。其中，我们详细描述了minicollagens家族和弹性蛋白Cnidoin，它们共同负责放电过程中的高结构弹性和动能释放。目前的项目建议是建立在我们以前建立的假设，刺胞动物刺细胞器构成一个专门的细胞外基质。为了推翻这一假设，我们将分析的共享蛋白质组之间的进化和功能的研究，在星海葵Nematostella vectensis的中胶细胞。此外，我们将集中在新的因素在分子模式和形态发生的膀胱小管结构。在这种情况下，我们还将重新定义NOWA的作用，它以前被确定为一种囊壁抗原。

The cnidarian nematocyst, used for predation and defense, is the most complex organelle in the animal kingdom. Its ultra-fast, harpoon-like discharge, which is accompanied by a release of toxins, requires molecular factors with unusual biomechanical properties. Our previous analysis of the Hydra nematocyst proteome revealed more than 400 molecular factors constituting the nematocyst. Among these, we have characterized in detail the family of minicollagens and the elastic protein Cnidoin, which in concert are responsible for the high structural resilience and kinetic energy release during the discharge process. The present project proposal is founded on our previously established hypothesis that the cnidarian stinging organelle constitutes a specialized extracellular matrix. To undermine this hypothesis, we will analyze by evolutionary and functional studies the shared proteome between nematocysts and the mesoglea in the starlet sea anemone Nematostella vectensis. In addition, we will focus on novel factors in the molecular patterning and morphogenesis of the nematocyst tubule structure. In this context, we will also redefine the role of NOWA, which was formerly identified as a capsule wall antigen.