Review
Version 1
Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed
Nuclear Morphofunctional Organization and Epigenetic Characteristics in Somatic Cells of Triatoma infestans (Klug)
Version 1
: Received: 17 July 2023 / Approved: 17 July 2023 / Online: 18 July 2023 (08:47:50 CEST)
A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.
Mello, M.L.S. Nuclear Morphofunctional Organization and Epigenetic Characteristics in Somatic Cells of T. infestans (Klug, 1834). Pathogens 2023, 12, 1030. Mello, M.L.S. Nuclear Morphofunctional Organization and Epigenetic Characteristics in Somatic Cells of T. infestans (Klug, 1834). Pathogens 2023, 12, 1030.
Abstract
Triatoma infestans (Klug) is an insect recognized as not only an important vector of South-American trypanosomiasis (Chagas disease) but also a model of specific cellular morphofunctional organization and epigenetic characteristics. The purpose of the present review is to highlight certain cellular processes that are particularly unveiled in T. infestans, such as 1) somatic polyploidy involving nuclear and cell fusions that generate giant nuclei; 2) diversification of nuclear phenotypes in the Malpighian tubules during insect development; 3) heterochromatin compartmentalization into large bodies with specific spatial distribution and presumed mobility in the cell nuclei; 4) chromatin remodeling and co-occurrence of necrosis and apoptosis in the Malpighian tubules under stress conditions; 5) epigenetic markers; 6) unexplained response of heterochromatin to valproic acid, an epidrug that inhibits histone deacetylases and induces DNA demethylation in other cell systems. These cellular processes and epigenetic characteristics emphasize the role of T. infestans as an attractive model for cellular research.
Keywords
insect vector; somatic polyploidy; chromocenters; Malpighian tubules; epigenetics; valproic acid; valproate
Subject
Biology and Life Sciences, Cell and Developmental Biology
Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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