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Handberg-Thorsager M, Gutierrez-Mazariegos J, Arold ST, Kumar Nadendla E, Bertucci PY, Germain P, Tomançak P, Pierzchalski K, Jones JW, Albalat R, Kane MA, Bourguet W, Laudet V, Arendt D, Schubert M. The ancestral retinoic acid receptor was a low-affinity sensor triggering neuronal differentiation. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2018; 4:eaao1261. [PMID: 29492455 PMCID: PMC5821490 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aao1261] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2017] [Accepted: 01/10/2018] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
Retinoic acid (RA) is an important intercellular signaling molecule in vertebrate development, with a well-established role in the regulation of hox genes during hindbrain patterning and in neurogenesis. However, the evolutionary origin of the RA signaling pathway remains elusive. To elucidate the evolution of the RA signaling system, we characterized RA metabolism and signaling in the marine annelid Platynereis dumerilii, a powerful model for evolution, development, and neurobiology. Binding assays and crystal structure analyses show that the annelid retinoic acid receptor (RAR) binds RA and activates transcription just as vertebrate RARs, yet with a different ligand-binding pocket and lower binding affinity, suggesting a permissive rather than instructive role of RA signaling. RAR knockdown and RA treatment of swimming annelid larvae further reveal that the RA signal is locally received in the medial neuroectoderm, where it controls neurogenesis and axon outgrowth, whereas the spatial colinear hox gene expression in the neuroectoderm remains unaffected. These findings suggest that one early role of the new RAR in bilaterian evolution was to control the spatially restricted onset of motor and interneuron differentiation in the developing ventral nerve cord and to indicate that the regulation of hox-controlled anterior-posterior patterning arose only at the base of the chordates, concomitant with a high-affinity RAR needed for the interpretation of a complex RA gradient.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mette Handberg-Thorsager
- Developmental Biology Unit, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Meyerhofstrasse 1, 69012 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Juliana Gutierrez-Mazariegos
- Molecular Zoology Team, Institut de Génomique Fonctionnelle de Lyon, Université de Lyon, Université Lyon 1, CNRS, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, 46 Allée d’Italie, 69364 Lyon Cedex 07, France
| | - Stefan T. Arold
- King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Center for Computational Bioscience Research, Division of Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Thuwal 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia
| | - Eswar Kumar Nadendla
- Centre de Biochimie Structurale, Inserm, CNRS, Université de Montpellier, 29 Rue de Navacelles, 34090 Montpellier, France
| | - Paola Y. Bertucci
- Developmental Biology Unit, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Meyerhofstrasse 1, 69012 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Pierre Germain
- Centre de Biochimie Structurale, Inserm, CNRS, Université de Montpellier, 29 Rue de Navacelles, 34090 Montpellier, France
| | - Pavel Tomançak
- Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Pfotenhauerstrasse 108, 01307 Dresden, Germany
| | - Keely Pierzchalski
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, University of Maryland, 20 North Pine Street, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA
| | - Jace W. Jones
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, University of Maryland, 20 North Pine Street, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA
| | - Ricard Albalat
- Departament de Genètica, Microbiologia i Estadística, Institut de Recerca de la Biodiversitat (IRBio), Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Avinguda Diagonal 643, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Maureen A. Kane
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, University of Maryland, 20 North Pine Street, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA
| | - William Bourguet
- Centre de Biochimie Structurale, Inserm, CNRS, Université de Montpellier, 29 Rue de Navacelles, 34090 Montpellier, France
| | - Vincent Laudet
- Molecular Zoology Team, Institut de Génomique Fonctionnelle de Lyon, Université de Lyon, Université Lyon 1, CNRS, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, 46 Allée d’Italie, 69364 Lyon Cedex 07, France
| | - Detlev Arendt
- Developmental Biology Unit, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Meyerhofstrasse 1, 69012 Heidelberg, Germany
- Centre for Organismal Studies, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 230, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Michael Schubert
- Sorbonne Universités, Université Pierre et Marie Curie (UPMC) Université Paris 06, CNRS, Laboratoire de Biologie du Développement de Villefranche-sur-Mer, Observatoire Océanologique de Villefranche-sur-Mer, 181 Chemin du Lazaret, 06230 Villefranche-sur-Mer, France
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New Insights Into the Roles of Retinoic Acid Signaling in Nervous System Development and the Establishment of Neurotransmitter Systems. INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF CELL AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY 2016; 330:1-84. [PMID: 28215529 DOI: 10.1016/bs.ircmb.2016.09.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
Secreted chiefly from the underlying mesoderm, the morphogen retinoic acid (RA) is well known to contribute to the specification, patterning, and differentiation of neural progenitors in the developing vertebrate nervous system. Furthermore, RA influences the subtype identity and neurotransmitter phenotype of subsets of maturing neurons, although relatively little is known about how these functions are mediated. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the roles played by RA signaling during the formation of the central and peripheral nervous systems of vertebrates and highlights its effects on the differentiation of several neurotransmitter systems. In addition, the evolutionary history of the RA signaling system is discussed, revealing both conserved properties and alternate modes of RA action. It is proposed that comparative approaches should be employed systematically to expand our knowledge of the context-dependent cellular mechanisms controlled by the multifunctional signaling molecule RA.
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Reitzel AM, Tarrant AM. Nuclear receptor complement of the cnidarian Nematostella vectensis: phylogenetic relationships and developmental expression patterns. BMC Evol Biol 2009; 9:230. [PMID: 19744329 PMCID: PMC2749838 DOI: 10.1186/1471-2148-9-230] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/25/2008] [Accepted: 09/10/2009] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Nuclear receptors are a superfamily of metazoan transcription factors that regulate diverse developmental and physiological processes. Sequenced genomes from an increasing number of bilaterians have provided a more complete picture of duplication and loss of nuclear receptors in protostomes and deuterostomes but have left open the question of which nuclear receptors were present in the cnidarian-bilaterian ancestor. In addition, nuclear receptor expression and function are largely uncharacterized within cnidarians, preventing determination of conserved and novel nuclear receptor functions in the context of animal evolution. Results Here we report the first complete set of nuclear receptors from a cnidarian, the starlet sea anemone Nematostella vectensis. Genomic searches using conserved DNA- and ligand-binding domains revealed seventeen nuclear receptors in N. vectensis. Phylogenetic analyses support N. vectensis orthologs of bilaterian nuclear receptors in four nuclear receptor subfamilies within nuclear receptor family 2 (COUP-TF, TLL, HNF4, TR2/4) and one putative ortholog of GCNF (nuclear receptor family 6). Other N. vectensis genes grouped well with nuclear receptor family 2 but represented lineage-specific duplications somewhere within the cnidarian lineage and were not clear orthologs of bilaterian genes. Three nuclear receptors were not well-supported within any particular nuclear receptor family. The seventeen nuclear receptors exhibited distinct developmental expression patterns, with expression of several nuclear receptors limited to a subset of developmental stages. Conclusion N. vectensis contains a diverse complement of nuclear receptors including orthologs of several bilaterian nuclear receptors. Novel nuclear receptors in N. vectensis may be ancient genes lost from triploblastic lineages or may represent cnidarian-specific radiations. Nuclear receptors exhibited distinct developmental expression patterns, which are consistent with diverse regulatory roles for these genes. Understanding the evolutionary relationships and developmental expression of the N. vectensis nuclear receptor complement provides insight into the evolution of the nuclear receptor superfamily and a foundation for mechanistic characterization of cnidarian nuclear receptor function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adam M Reitzel
- Department of Biology, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA.
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Environmental sensing and response genes in cnidaria: the chemical defensome in the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis. Cell Biol Toxicol 2008; 24:483-502. [PMID: 18956243 DOI: 10.1007/s10565-008-9107-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 64] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2008] [Accepted: 10/03/2008] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
The starlet sea anemone Nematostella vectensis has been recently established as a new model system for the study of the evolution of developmental processes, as cnidaria occupy a key evolutionary position at the base of the bilateria. Cnidaria play important roles in estuarine and reef communities, but are exposed to many environmental stressors. Here, I describe the genetic components of a "chemical defensome" in the genome of N. vectensis and review cnidarian molecular toxicology. Gene families that defend against chemical stressors and the transcription factors that regulate these genes have been termed a chemical defensome and include the cytochromes P450 and other oxidases, various conjugating enyzymes, the ATP-dependent efflux transporters, oxidative detoxification proteins, as well as various transcription factors. These genes account for about 1% (266/27,200) of the predicted genes in the sea anemone genome, similar to the proportion observed in tunicates and humans, but lower than that observed in sea urchins. While there are comparable numbers of stress-response genes, the stress sensor genes appear to be reduced in N. vectensis relative to many model protostomes and deuterostomes. Cnidarian toxicology is understudied, especially given the important ecological roles of many cnidarian species. New genomic resources should stimulate the study of chemical stress sensing and response mechanisms in cnidaria and allow us to further illuminate the evolution of chemical defense gene networks.
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