Does autophagy play a role in the intestinal regeneration process in the sea cucumber <em>Holothuria glaberrima</em>?

Abstract

Autophagy is an evolutionary conserved process across eukaryotic organisms, consisting of the homeostatic process of recycling unwanted cytoplasmic components, thus ensuring cell survival. This process has been documented to be directly responsible for organisms with enormous regeneration capabilities, organisms such as planarians, hydras, tunicates, and zebrafish. Our study model, the Caribbean sea cucumber <em>Holothuria glaberrima</em> is an excellent model for studying regeneration, since they have the ability to fully replenish whole body systems, such as radial nerves, respiratory tree, body wall muscles, and their gastrointestinal tract, the latest being the main focus of this thesis. Our research was focused on establishing if this process is indeed present in our study animal and how it affects <em>H. glaberrima</em> intestinal regeneration. The RNA and their products for autophagy genes were characterized, their presence was observed on intestinal tissues and <em>H. glaberrima</em>'s transcriptome, however some data need to be clarified. Autophagy inhibitors were also administered, to establish if indeed this process is responsible for <em>H. glaberrima</em>'s intestinal regeneration. These results suggest that autophagy merely occurs at a basal level, suffering slight alterations at initial intestinal regeneration stages.