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Calcitonin in a protochordate,Ciona intestinalis - the prototype of the vertebrate calcitonin/calcitonin gene-related peptide superfamily
- Source :
- FEBS Journal. 276:4437-4447
- Publication Year :
- 2009
- Publisher :
- Wiley, 2009.
-
Abstract
- The calcitonin (CT)/CT gene-related peptides (CGRPs) constitute a large peptide family in vertebrates. However, no CT/CGRP superfamily members have so far been identified in invertebrates, and the evolutionary process leading to the diverse vertebrate CT/CGRP superfamily members remains unclear. In this study, we have identified an authentic invertebrate CT, Ci-CT, in the ascidian Ciona intestinalis, which is the phylogenetically closest invertebrate chordate to vertebrates. The amino acid sequence of Ci-CT was shown to display high similarity to those of vertebrate CTs and to share CT consensus motifs, including the N-terminal circular region and C-terminal amidated proline. Furthermore, the Ci-CT gene was found to be the only Ciona CT/CGRP superfamily gene. Ci-CT also exhibited less potent, but significant, activation of the human CT receptor, as compared with salmon CT. Physiological analysis revealed that Ci-CT reduced the osteoclastic activity that is specific to vertebrate CTs. CD analysis demonstrated that Ci-CT weakly forms an alpha-helix structure. These results provide evidence that the CT/CGRP superfamily is essentially conserved in ascidians as well as in vertebrates, and indicate that Ci-CT is a prototype of vertebrate CT/CGRP superfamily members. Moreover, expression analysis demonstrated that Ci-CT is expressed in more organs than vertebrate CTs in the cognate organs, suggesting that an original CT/CGRP superfamily member gene was also expressed in multiple organs, and each CT/CGRP superfamily member acquired its current specific tissue distribution and physiological role concomitantly with diversification of the CT/CGRP superfamily during the evolution of chordates. This is the first report on a CT/CGRP superfamily member in invertebrates.
- Subjects :
- Calcitonin
medicine.medical_specialty
Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide
Chordate
Calcitonin gene-related peptide
Biochemistry
Protein Structure, Secondary
Species Specificity
Salmon
biology.animal
Internal medicine
medicine
Animals
Humans
Ciona intestinalis
Amino Acid Sequence
Chordata
Molecular Biology
Peptide sequence
Gene
biology
Vertebrate
Cell Biology
Receptors, Calcitonin
biology.organism_classification
Cell biology
Ciona
Endocrinology
Organ Specificity
Vertebrates
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 17424658 and 1742464X
- Volume :
- 276
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- FEBS Journal
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....0ecf3a78f154e5432e3693fdd4f85d75