A carcinogenic trigger to study the function of tumor suppressor genes in Schmidtea mediterranea

Planarians have been long known for their regenerative ability, which hinges on pluripotency. Recently, however, the planarian model has been successfully established for routine toxicological screens aimed to assess overproliferation, mutagenicity and tumorigenesis. In this study, we focused on planarian tumor suppressor genes (TSGs) and their role during chemically induced carcinogenic stress in Schmidtea mediterranea. Combining in silico and proteomic screens with exposure to human carcinogen type 1A agent cadmium (Cd), we showed that many TSGs have a function in stem cells and that, in general, exposure to Cd accelerated the onset and increased the severity of the observed phenotype. This suggested that the interaction between environmental and genetic factors plays an important role in tumor development in S. mediterranea. Therefore, we further focused on the synergistic effects of Cd exposure and p53 knockdown (KD) at the cellular and molecular levels. Cd also produced a specific proteomic landscape in homeostatic animals, with 172 proteins differentially expressed, 43 of which were downregulated. Several of these proteins have tumor suppressor function in human and other animals, namely Wilms Tumor 1 Associated Protein (WT1), Heat Shock Protein 90 (HSP90), Glioma Pathogenesis-Related Protein 1 (GLIPR1) and Matrix Metalloproteinase B (Smed-MMPB). Both Glipr1 and MmpB KD produced large outgrowths, epidermal lesions and epidermal blisters. The epidermal blisters that formed as a consequence of Smed-MmpB KD were populated by smedwi1+ cells, many of which were actively proliferating, while large outgrowths contained ectopically differentiated structures, such as photoreceptors, nervous tissue and a small pharynx. In conclusion, Smed-MmpB is a planarian TSG that prevents stem cell proliferation and differentiation outside the proper milieu. This work was supported by Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (R-6411 to A.W.; 1522015N and G0B8317N to A.W., A.V.R., K.S.), Universität des Saarlandes (T.A.T.), Universiteit Hasselt (A.W., A.V.R., K.S.), Bijzonder Onderzoeksfonds (G0B81317 to A.W., A.V.R., K.S.), Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (50753940 to L.G.), Hercules Foundation (R-3986), Egyptian Cultural Affair Mission Sector of the Ministry of Higher Education/National Research Centre (A.Z.A.-Z.B.), Max Planck Institute for Molecular Biomedicine (L.G.) and Fraunhofer Institute for Biomedical Engineering (L.G.).