LAUSR

The BMP2 signal transduced by SMAD1/5 plays an important role in osteoblast differentiation and bone formation. Shell formation of Pinctada fucata martensii is a typical biomineralization process that is similar to that of teeth/bone formation. However, whether the Pinctada fucata BMP2 (PfBMP2) signal transduced by PfSMAD1/5 occurs in P. f. martensii, how the PfBMP2 signal is transduced by PfSMAD1/5, and how PfSMAD1/5 regulates the biomineralization process in this species and other shellfish are poorly understood. Therefore, injection experiments of recombinant PfBMP2 and inhibitor dorsomorphin revealed that PfSMAD1/5 can transduce PfBMP2 signals. Subcellular localization and bimolecular fluorescence complementation assays indicated that PfSMAD1/5 phosphorylated by PfBMPR1b interacts with PfSMAD4 in the cytoplasm to form a complex, which translocates to the nucleus to transduce PfBMP2 signals. Co-immunoprecipitation and luciferase assays revealed that PfSMAD1/5 may interact with PfMSX to dislodge it from its binding element, resulting in initiation of mantle gene transcription. The in vivo functional assay showed that knockdown of PfMSAD1/5 decreased expression of shell matrix genes and disordered the nacreous layer, and the correlation assay of shell regeneration showed the concomitant expression pattern of PfSMAD1/5 and shell matrix genes. Together, these data showed that PfSMAD1/5 can transduce PfBMP2 signals to regulate shell biomineralization in P. f. martensii, which illustrated conservation of the BMP2-SMAD signal pathway among invertebrates. Particularly, the results suggest that there is only one PfMSX gene, which functions like the Hox gene in vertebrates, that interacts with PfSMAD1/5 in a protein–protein action form and plays the role of transcription repressor.