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Machado JP, Johnson WE, Gilbert MTP, Zhang G, Jarvis ED, O'Brien SJ, Antunes A. Bone-associated gene evolution and the origin of flight in birds. BMC Genomics 2016; 17:371. [PMID: 27193938 PMCID: PMC4870793 DOI: 10.1186/s12864-016-2681-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2015] [Accepted: 04/28/2016] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Bones have been subjected to considerable selective pressure throughout vertebrate evolution, such as occurred during the adaptations associated with the development of powered flight. Powered flight evolved independently in two extant clades of vertebrates, birds and bats. While this trait provided advantages such as in aerial foraging habits, escape from predators or long-distance travels, it also imposed great challenges, namely in the bone structure. RESULTS We performed comparative genomic analyses of 89 bone-associated genes from 47 avian genomes (including 45 new), 39 mammalian, and 20 reptilian genomes, and demonstrate that birds, after correcting for multiple testing, have an almost two-fold increase in the number of bone-associated genes with evidence of positive selection (~52.8 %) compared with mammals (~30.3 %). Most of the positive-selected genes in birds are linked with bone regulation and remodeling and thirteen have been linked with functional pathways relevant to powered flight, including bone metabolism, bone fusion, muscle development and hyperglycemia levels. Genes encoding proteins involved in bone resorption, such as TPP1, had a high number of sites under Darwinian selection in birds. CONCLUSIONS Patterns of positive selection observed in bird ossification genes suggest that there was a period of intense selective pressure to improve flight efficiency that was closely linked with constraints on body size.
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Affiliation(s)
- João Paulo Machado
- CIIMAR/CIMAR, Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research, University of Porto, Rua dos Bragas, 177, 4050-123, Porto, Portugal
- Abel Salazar Biomedical Sciences Institute (ICBAS), University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
| | - Warren E Johnson
- Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, National Zoological Park, 1500 Remount Road, Front Royal, VA, 22630, USA
| | - M Thomas P Gilbert
- Centre for GeoGenetics, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Øster Volgade 5-7, 1350, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Guojie Zhang
- China National GeneBank, BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzen, 518083, China
- Centre for Social Evolution, Department of Biology, Universitetsparken 15, University of Copenhagen, DK-2100, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Erich D Jarvis
- Department of Neurobiology Box 3209, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, 27710, USA
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Chevy Chase, MD, 20815, USA
| | - Stephen J O'Brien
- Theodosius Dobzhansky Center for Genome Bioinformatics, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, 199004, Russia
- Oceanographic Center, 8000 N. Ocean Drive, Nova Southeastern University, Ft Lauderdale, FL, 33004, USA
| | - Agostinho Antunes
- CIIMAR/CIMAR, Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research, University of Porto, Rua dos Bragas, 177, 4050-123, Porto, Portugal.
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal.
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Cianferotti L, Brandi ML. Muscle-bone interactions: basic and clinical aspects. Endocrine 2014; 45:165-77. [PMID: 23990248 DOI: 10.1007/s12020-013-0026-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 113] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2013] [Accepted: 07/25/2013] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Muscle and bone are anatomically and functionally closely connected. The traditional concept that skeletal muscles serve to load bone and transform skeletal segments into a system of levers has been further refined into the mechanostat theory, according to which striated muscle is essential for bone development and maintenance, modelling and remodelling. Besides biomechanical function, skeletal muscle and bone are endocrine organs able to secrete factors capable of modulating biological function within their microenvironment, in nearby tissues or in distant organs. The endocrine properties of muscle and bone may serve to sense and transduce biomechanical signals such as loading, unloading or exercise, or systemic hormonal stimuli into biochemical signals. Nonetheless, given the close anatomical relationship between skeletal muscle and bone, paracrine interactions particularly at the periosteal interface can be hypothesized. These mechanisms can assume particular importance during bone and muscle healing after musculoskeletal injury. Basic studies in vitro and in rodents have helped to dissect the multiple influences of skeletal muscle on bone and/or expression of inside-organ metabolism and have served to explain clinical observations linking muscle-to-bone quality. Recent evidences pinpoint that also bone tissue is able to modulate directly or indirectly skeletal muscle metabolism, thus empowering the crosstalk hypothesis to be further tested in humans in vivo.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luisella Cianferotti
- Unit of Bone and Mineral Metabolism, Department of Surgery and Translational Medicine, Section of Endocrinology and Metabolism, School of Human Health Sciences, University of Florence, Viale Pieraccini, 6, 50139, Florence, Italy
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Abstract
Myostatin, a member of the transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) superfamily, was first described in 1997. Since then, myostatin has gained growing attention because of the discovery that myostatin inhibition leads to muscle mass accrual. Myostatin not only plays a key role in muscle homeostasis, but also affects fat and bone. This review will focus on the impact of myostatin and its inhibition on muscle mass/function, adipose tissue and bone density/geometry in humans. Although existing data are sparse, myostatin inhibition leads to increased lean mass and 1 study found a decrease in fat mass and increase in bone formation. In addition, myostatin levels are increased in sarcopenia, cachexia and bed rest whereas they are increased after resistance training, suggesting physiological regulatory of myostatin. Increased myostatin levels have also been found in obesity and levels decrease after weight loss from caloric restriction. Knowledge on the relationship of myostatin with bone is largely based on animal data where elevated myostatin levels lead to decreased BMD and myostatin inhibition improved BMD. In summary, myostatin appears to be a key factor in the integrated physiology of muscle, fat, and bone. It is unclear whether myostatin directly affects fat and bone, or indirectly via muscle. Whether via direct or indirect effects, myostatin inhibition appears to increase muscle and bone mass and decrease fat tissue-a combination that truly appears to be a holy grail. However, at this time, human data for both efficacy and safety are extremely limited. Moreover, whether increased muscle mass also leads to improved function remains to be determined. Ultimately potential beneficial effects of myostatin inhibition will need to be determined based on hard outcomes such as falls and fractures.
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Affiliation(s)
- B Buehring
- Division of Geriatrics and Gerontology, University of Wisconsin Osteoporosis Clinical Research Program, UW Madison, 2870 University Ave, Suite 100, Madison, WI, 53705, USA,
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Arounleut P, Bialek P, Liang LF, Upadhyay S, Fulzele S, Johnson M, Elsalanty M, Isales CM, Hamrick MW. A myostatin inhibitor (propeptide-Fc) increases muscle mass and muscle fiber size in aged mice but does not increase bone density or bone strength. Exp Gerontol 2013; 48:898-904. [PMID: 23832079 DOI: 10.1016/j.exger.2013.06.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2013] [Revised: 06/10/2013] [Accepted: 06/26/2013] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Loss of muscle and bone mass with age are significant contributors to falls and fractures among the elderly. Myostatin deficiency is associated with increased muscle mass in mice, dogs, cows, sheep and humans, and mice lacking myostatin have been observed to show increased bone density in the limb, spine, and jaw. Transgenic overexpression of myostatin propeptide, which binds to and inhibits the active myostatin ligand, also increases muscle mass and bone density in mice. We therefore sought to test the hypothesis that in vivo inhibition of myostatin using an injectable myostatin propeptide (GDF8 propeptide-Fc) would increase both muscle mass and bone density in aged (24 mo) mice. Male mice were injected weekly (20 mg/kg body weight) with recombinant myostatin propeptide-Fc (PRO) or vehicle (VEH; saline) for four weeks. There was no difference in body weight between the two groups at the end of the treatment period, but PRO treatment significantly increased mass of the tibialis anterior muscle (+ 7%) and increased muscle fiber diameter of the extensor digitorum longus (+ 16%) and soleus (+ 6%) muscles compared to VEH treatment. Bone volume relative to total volume (BV/TV) of the femur calculated by microCT did not differ significantly between PRO- and VEH-treated mice, and ultimate force (Fu), stiffness (S), toughness (U) measured from three-point bending tests also did not differ significantly between groups. Histomorphometric assays also revealed no differences in bone formation or resorption in response to PRO treatment. These data suggest that while developmental perturbation of myostatin signaling through either gene knockout or transgenic inhibition may alter both muscle and bone mass in mice, pharmacological inhibition of myostatin in aged mice has a more pronounced effect on skeletal muscle than on bone.
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Peiris HN, Mitchell MD. The expression and potential functions of placental myostatin. Placenta 2012; 33:902-7. [PMID: 22818745 DOI: 10.1016/j.placenta.2012.06.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2011] [Revised: 06/25/2012] [Accepted: 06/27/2012] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
Myostatin (growth differentiation factor-8; GDF-8) is a potent negative regulator of muscle development affecting both proliferation and differentiation. Myostatin has been reported to enhance the release of cytokines, including TNF-α (a pro-inflammatory cytokine involved in implantation). In the human placenta, myostatin production is negatively correlated with gestational age and has been implicated in the control of glucose uptake. Preliminary data indicate its expression is primarily localized to cytotrophoblast and syncytiotrophoblast. The role of myostatin in the placenta, however, remains to be fully elucidated. We speculate that myostatin is key regulator that contributes to placentation and the regulation of placental function throughout pregnancy.
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Affiliation(s)
- H N Peiris
- The University of Queensland Centre for Clinical Research, Queensland, Australia
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