Evidence of Signaling and Adhesion Roles for β-Catenin in the Sponge Ephydatia muelleri

β-Catenin acts as a transcriptional coactivator in the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway and a cytoplasmic effector in cadherin-based cell adhesion. These functions are ancient within animals, but the earliest steps in β-catenin evolution remain unresolved due to limited data from key lineages-sponges, ctenophores, and placozoans. Previous studies in sponges have characterized β-catenin expression dynamics and used GSK3B antagonists to ectopically activate the Wnt/β-catenin pathway; both approaches rely upon untested assumptions about the conservation of β-catenin function and regulation in sponges. Here, we test these assumptions using an antibody raised against β-catenin from the sponge Ephydatia muelleri. We find that cadherin-complex genes coprecipitate with endogenous Em β-catenin from cell lysates, but that Wnt pathway components do not. However, through immunostaining we detect both cell boundary and nuclear populations, and we find evidence that Em β-catenin is a conserved substrate of GSK3B. Collectively, these data support conserved roles for Em β-catenin in both cell adhesion and Wnt signaling. Additionally, we find evidence for an Em β-catenin population associated with the distal ends of F-actin stress fibers in apparent cell-substrate adhesion structures that resemble focal adhesions. This finding suggests a fundamental difference in the adhesion properties of sponge tissues relative to other animals, in which the adhesion functions of β-catenin are typically restricted to cell-cell adhesions.