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Asano T, Seto Y, Hashimoto K, Kurushima H. Mini-review an insect-specific system for terrestrialization: Laccase-mediated cuticle formation. INSECT BIOCHEMISTRY AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY 2019; 108:61-70. [PMID: 30904465 DOI: 10.1016/j.ibmb.2019.03.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2018] [Revised: 03/14/2019] [Accepted: 03/14/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Insects are often regarded as the most successful group of animals in the terrestrial environment. Their success can be represented by their huge biomass and large impact on ecosystems. Among the factors suggested to be responsible for their success, we focus on the possibility that the cuticle might have affected the process of insects' evolution. The cuticle of insects, like that of other arthropods, is composed mainly of chitin and structural cuticle proteins. However, insects seem to have evolved a specific system for cuticle formation. Oxidation reaction of catecholamines catalyzed by a copper enzyme, laccase, is the key step in the metabolic pathway for hardening of the insect cuticle. Molecular phylogenetic analysis indicates that laccase functioning in cuticle sclerotization has evolved only in insects. In this review, we discuss a theory on how the insect-specific "laccase" function has been advantageous for establishing their current ecological position as terrestrial animals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tsunaki Asano
- Department of Biological Sciences, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Tokyo, 192-0397, Japan.
| | - Yosuke Seto
- Department of Biological Sciences, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Tokyo, 192-0397, Japan
| | - Kosei Hashimoto
- Department of Biological Sciences, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Tokyo, 192-0397, Japan
| | - Hiroaki Kurushima
- Department of Biological Sciences, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Tokyo, 192-0397, Japan
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Sekine Y, Takagahara S, Hatanaka R, Watanabe T, Oguchi H, Noguchi T, Naguro I, Kobayashi K, Tsunoda M, Funatsu T, Nomura H, Toyoda T, Matsuki N, Kuranaga E, Miura M, Takeda K, Ichijo H. p38 MAPKs regulate the expression of genes in the dopamine synthesis pathway through phosphorylation of NR4A nuclear receptors. J Cell Sci 2011; 124:3006-16. [DOI: 10.1242/jcs.085902] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
In Drosophila, the melanization reaction is an important defense mechanism against injury and invasion of microorganisms. Drosophila tyrosine hydroxylase (TH, also known as Pale) and dopa decarboxylase (Ddc), key enzymes in the dopamine synthesis pathway, underlie the melanin synthesis by providing the melanin precursors dopa and dopamine, respectively. It has been shown that expression of Drosophila TH and Ddc is induced in various physiological and pathological conditions, including bacterial challenge; however, the mechanism involved has not been fully elucidated. Here, we show that ectopic activation of p38 MAPK induces TH and Ddc expression, leading to upregulation of melanization in the Drosophila cuticle. This p38-dependent melanization was attenuated by knockdown of TH and Ddc, as well as by that of Drosophila HR38, a member of the NR4A family of nuclear receptors. In mammalian cells, p38 phosphorylated mammalian NR4As and Drosophila HR38 and potentiated these NR4As to transactivate a promoter containing NR4A-binding elements, with this transactivation being, at least in part, dependent on the phosphorylation. This suggests an evolutionarily conserved role for p38 MAPKs in the regulation of NR4As. Thus, p38-regulated gene induction through NR4As appears to function in the dopamine synthesis pathway and may be involved in immune and stress responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yusuke Sekine
- Laboratory of Cell Signaling, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Strategic Approach to Drug Discovery and Development in Pharmaceutical Sciences, Global Center of Excellence (GCOE) program, and Core Research for Evolutional Science and Technology (CREST), Japan Science and Technology Corporation, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
| | - Shuichi Takagahara
- Laboratory of Cell Signaling, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Strategic Approach to Drug Discovery and Development in Pharmaceutical Sciences, Global Center of Excellence (GCOE) program, and Core Research for Evolutional Science and Technology (CREST), Japan Science and Technology Corporation, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
| | - Ryo Hatanaka
- Laboratory of Cell Signaling, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Strategic Approach to Drug Discovery and Development in Pharmaceutical Sciences, Global Center of Excellence (GCOE) program, and Core Research for Evolutional Science and Technology (CREST), Japan Science and Technology Corporation, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
| | - Takeshi Watanabe
- Laboratory of Cell Signaling, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Strategic Approach to Drug Discovery and Development in Pharmaceutical Sciences, Global Center of Excellence (GCOE) program, and Core Research for Evolutional Science and Technology (CREST), Japan Science and Technology Corporation, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
| | - Haruka Oguchi
- Laboratory of Cell Signaling, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Strategic Approach to Drug Discovery and Development in Pharmaceutical Sciences, Global Center of Excellence (GCOE) program, and Core Research for Evolutional Science and Technology (CREST), Japan Science and Technology Corporation, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
| | - Takuya Noguchi
- Laboratory of Cell Signaling, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Strategic Approach to Drug Discovery and Development in Pharmaceutical Sciences, Global Center of Excellence (GCOE) program, and Core Research for Evolutional Science and Technology (CREST), Japan Science and Technology Corporation, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
| | - Isao Naguro
- Laboratory of Cell Signaling, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Strategic Approach to Drug Discovery and Development in Pharmaceutical Sciences, Global Center of Excellence (GCOE) program, and Core Research for Evolutional Science and Technology (CREST), Japan Science and Technology Corporation, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
| | - Kazuto Kobayashi
- Department of Molecular Genetics, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Fukushima Medical University School of Medicine, 1 Hikarigaoka, Fukushima 960-1295, Japan
| | - Makoto Tsunoda
- Department of Bioanalytical Chemistry, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
| | - Takashi Funatsu
- Department of Bioanalytical Chemistry, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
| | - Hiroshi Nomura
- Laboratory of Chemical Pharmacology, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
| | - Takeshi Toyoda
- Laboratory of Chemical Pharmacology, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
| | - Norio Matsuki
- Laboratory of Chemical Pharmacology, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
| | - Erina Kuranaga
- Department of Genetics, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
- Laboratory for Histogenetic Dynamics, RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology, 2-2-3 Minatojima-minamimachi, Chuo-ku, Kobe 650-0047, Japan
| | - Masayuki Miura
- Department of Genetics, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
| | - Kohsuke Takeda
- Laboratory of Cell Signaling, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Strategic Approach to Drug Discovery and Development in Pharmaceutical Sciences, Global Center of Excellence (GCOE) program, and Core Research for Evolutional Science and Technology (CREST), Japan Science and Technology Corporation, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
| | - Hidenori Ichijo
- Laboratory of Cell Signaling, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Strategic Approach to Drug Discovery and Development in Pharmaceutical Sciences, Global Center of Excellence (GCOE) program, and Core Research for Evolutional Science and Technology (CREST), Japan Science and Technology Corporation, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
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Davis MM, Yang P, Chen L, O'Keefe SL, Hodgetts RB. The orphan nuclear receptor DHR38 influences transcription of the DOPA decarboxylase gene in epidermal and neural tissues of Drosophila melanogaster. Genome 2008; 50:1049-60. [PMID: 18059550 DOI: 10.1139/g07-084] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
The DOPA decarboxylase gene (Ddc) belongs to the "early-late" class of ecdysone-inducible genes in Drosophila melanogaster. Its expression is up-regulated in epidermal tissues by the ecdysone receptor acting through a response element, EcRE. In this paper, we show that another member of the nuclear receptor superfamily, DHR38, may act as a repressor of epidermal Ddc while inducing Ddc expression in neuronal cells. DHR38 does not behave as a classical co-repressor of the ecdysone receptor though, since the site through which DHR38 acts is distinct from the EcRE. Ectopic expression of a Dhr38 cDNA from a heat-shock promoter completely repressed transcription from the endogenous Ddc promoter and from an intact reporter construct in the hypoderm and in imaginal discs. Ectopic DHR38 had no effect on the transcription of a reporter driven by a Ddc fragment missing the DHR38 binding site. Neither reporter expression nor endogenous Ddc transcript levels were affected in a Dhr38 mutant background. Because most mutant organisms pupariate apparently normally and many of these survive to eclose, we believe that some functional redundancy exists within the Dhr38 regulatory network operating in epidermal tissues. In contrast to its apparent repressor function in epidermal tissues, DHR38 may act as a positive regulator of neural Ddc expression. Ectopic expression of DHR38 throughout the CNS induced as much as a 20-fold increase in Ddc transcripts in the set of neurons in which DDC normally appears.
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Affiliation(s)
- Monica M Davis
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2E9, Canada
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