Open AccessArrested in Glass: Actin within Sophisticated Architectures of Biosilica in Sponges
Author(s) -
Ehrlich Hermann,
Luczak Magdalena,
Ziganshin Rustam,
Mikšík Ivan,
Wysokowski Marcin,
Simon Paul,
BaranowskaBosiacka Irena,
Kupnicka Patrycja,
Ereskovsky Alexander,
Galli Roberta,
Dyshlovoy Sergey,
Fischer Jonas,
Tabachnick Konstantin R.,
Petrenko Iaroslav,
Jesionowski Teofil,
Lubkowska Anna,
Figlerowicz Marek,
Ivanenko Viatcheslav N.,
Summers Adam P.
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
advanced science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.388
H-Index - 100
ISSN - 2198-3844
DOI - 10.1002/advs.202105059
Subject(s) - actin , biomineralization , biology , actin cytoskeleton , precambrian , superfamily , cytoskeleton , microfilament , microbiology and biotechnology , paleontology , biochemistry , cell , gene
Actin is a fundamental member of an ancient superfamily of structural intracellular proteins and plays a crucial role in cytoskeleton dynamics, ciliogenesis, phagocytosis, and force generation in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes. It is shown that actin has another function in metazoans: patterning biosilica deposition, a role that has spanned over 500 million years. Species of glass sponges (Hexactinellida) and demosponges (Demospongiae), representatives of the first metazoans, with a broad diversity of skeletal structures with hierarchical architecture unchanged since the late Precambrian, are studied. By etching their skeletons, organic templates dominated by individual F‐actin filaments, including branched fibers and the longest, thickest actin fiber bundles ever reported, are isolated. It is proposed that these actin‐rich filaments are not the primary site of biosilicification, but this highly sophisticated and multi‐scale form of biomineralization in metazoans is ptterned.