Initial Stages of Calcium Uptake and Mineral Deposition in Sea Urchin Embryos
Initial stages of calcium uptake and mineral deposition in sea urchin embryos Netta Vidavskya, Sefi Addadib, Julia Mahamidc, Eyal Shimonid, David Ben-Ezrae, Muki Shpigele, Steve Weinera, and Lia Addadia,1 aDepartment of Structural Biology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel; bB-nano Ltd., Rehovot 76326, Israel; cDepartment of Molecular Structural Biology, Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, 82152 Martinsried, Germany; dDepartment of Chemical Research Support, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel; and eIsrael Oceanographic and Limnological Research, National Center for Mariculture, Eilat 88112, Israel Edited by Patricia M. Dove, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, and approved October 31, 2013 (received for review July 10, 2013) Sea urchin larvae have an endoskeleton consisting of two calcitic fluorescent signal at the spicule tip (13). The dynamics of spicule spicules. We reconstructed various stages of the formation elongation also was studied in vivo by using calcein, which la- pathway of calcium carbonate from calcium ions in sea water to beled the surface of newly formed spicule areas (7, 14). Blocking mineral deposition and integration into the forming spicules. or interfering with calcium uptake by the cells, both in vivo and Monitoring calcium uptake with the fluorescent dye calcein shows in PMC cultures, shows that for the spicule to be formed, cal- that calcium ions first penetrate the embryo and later are de- cium first has to penetrate the cells (15–17). The manner in posited intracellularly. Surprisingly, calcium carbonate deposits are which calcium is transported to the PMCs is not known (7). It is distributed widely all over the embryo, including in the primary known that the ectoderm cells take part in spicule mineraliza- mesenchyme cells and in the surface epithelial cells.
[Show full text]