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Ruperti F, Papadopoulos N, Musser JM, Mirdita M, Steinegger M, Arendt D. Cross-phyla protein annotation by structural prediction and alignment. Genome Biol 2023; 24:113. [PMID: 37173746 PMCID: PMC10176882 DOI: 10.1186/s13059-023-02942-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2022] [Accepted: 04/18/2023] [Indexed: 05/15/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Protein annotation is a major goal in molecular biology, yet experimentally determined knowledge is typically limited to a few model organisms. In non-model species, the sequence-based prediction of gene orthology can be used to infer protein identity; however, this approach loses predictive power at longer evolutionary distances. Here we propose a workflow for protein annotation using structural similarity, exploiting the fact that similar protein structures often reflect homology and are more conserved than protein sequences. RESULTS We propose a workflow of openly available tools for the functional annotation of proteins via structural similarity (MorF: MorphologFinder) and use it to annotate the complete proteome of a sponge. Sponges are highly relevant for inferring the early history of animals, yet their proteomes remain sparsely annotated. MorF accurately predicts the functions of proteins with known homology in [Formula: see text] cases and annotates an additional [Formula: see text] of the proteome beyond standard sequence-based methods. We uncover new functions for sponge cell types, including extensive FGF, TGF, and Ephrin signaling in sponge epithelia, and redox metabolism and control in myopeptidocytes. Notably, we also annotate genes specific to the enigmatic sponge mesocytes, proposing they function to digest cell walls. CONCLUSIONS Our work demonstrates that structural similarity is a powerful approach that complements and extends sequence similarity searches to identify homologous proteins over long evolutionary distances. We anticipate this will be a powerful approach that boosts discovery in numerous -omics datasets, especially for non-model organisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fabian Ruperti
- Developmental Biology Unit, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Heidelberg, Germany
- Faculty of Biosciences, Collaboration for joint Ph.D. degree between EMBL and Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Nikolaos Papadopoulos
- Developmental Biology Unit, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Heidelberg, Germany
- Department for Evolutionary Biology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Jacob M Musser
- Developmental Biology Unit, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Milot Mirdita
- School of Biological Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Martin Steinegger
- School of Biological Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea
- Artificial Intelligence Institute, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Detlev Arendt
- Developmental Biology Unit, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Heidelberg, Germany.
- Centre for Organismal Studies, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.
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Riesgo A, Santodomingo N, Koutsouveli V, Kumala L, Leger MM, Leys SP, Funch P. Molecular machineries of ciliogenesis, cell survival, and vasculogenesis are differentially expressed during regeneration in explants of the demosponge Halichondria panicea. BMC Genomics 2022; 23:858. [PMID: 36581804 PMCID: PMC9798719 DOI: 10.1186/s12864-022-09035-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2022] [Accepted: 11/21/2022] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Sponges are interesting animal models for regeneration studies, since even from dissociated cells, they are able to regenerate completely. In particular, explants are model systems that can be applied to many sponge species, since small fragments of sponges can regenerate all elements of the adult, including the oscula and the ability to pump water. The morphological aspects of regeneration in sponges are relatively well known, but the molecular machinery is only now starting to be elucidated for some sponge species. Here, we have used an explant system of the demosponge Halichondria panicea to understand the molecular machinery deployed during regeneration of the aquiferous system. We sequenced the transcriptomes of four replicates of the 5-day explant without an osculum (NOE), four replicates of the 17-18-day explant with a single osculum and pumping activity (PE) and also four replicates of field-collected individuals with regular pumping activity (PA), and performed differential gene expression analysis. We also described the morphology of NOE and PE samples using light and electron microscopy. Our results showed a highly disorganised mesohyl and disarranged aquiferous system in NOE that is coupled with upregulated pathways of ciliogenesis, organisation of the ECM, and cell proliferation and survival. Once the osculum is formed, genes involved in "response to stimulus in other organisms" were upregulated. Interestingly, the main molecular machinery of vasculogenesis described in vertebrates was activated during the regeneration of the aquiferous system. Notably, vasculogenesis markers were upregulated when the tissue was disorganised and about to start forming canals (NOE) and angiogenic stimulators and ECM remodelling machineries were differentially expressed once the aquiferous system was in place (PE and PA). Our results are fundamental to better understanding the molecular mechanisms involved in the formation of the aquiferous system in sponges, and its similarities with the early onset of blood-vessel formation in animal evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ana Riesgo
- Department of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (CSIC), Calle José Gutiérrez Abascal 2, 28006, Madrid, Spain.
- Department of Life Sciences, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW5 7BD, UK.
| | - Nadia Santodomingo
- Department of Life Sciences, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW5 7BD, UK
- Department of Earth Sciences, Oxford University, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3AN, UK
| | - Vasiliki Koutsouveli
- Marine Symbioses Research Unit, GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, Düsternbrooker Weg 20, D-24105, Kiel, Germany
| | - Lars Kumala
- Nordcee, Department of Biology, University of Southern Denmark, Campusvej 55, 5230, Odense M, Denmark
- Marine Biological Research Center, University of Southern Denmark, Hindsholmvej 11, 5300, Kerteminde, Denmark
| | - Michelle M Leger
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology (CSIC-UPF), Paseo Marítimo de la Barceloneta 37-49, 08003, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Sally P Leys
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, 11455 Saskatchewan Drive, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2R3, Canada
| | - Peter Funch
- Department of Biology, Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade, 114-116, Aarhus C, Denmark
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Abstract
The EPH receptor tyrosine kinases and their signaling partners, the EPHRINS, comprise a large class of cell signaling molecules that plays diverse roles in development. As cell membrane-anchored signaling molecules, they regulate cellular organization by modulating the strength of cellular contacts, usually by impacting the actin cytoskeleton or cell adhesion programs. Through these cellular functions, EPH/EPHRIN signaling often regulates tissue shape. Indeed, recent evidence indicates that this signaling family is ancient and associated with the origin of multicellularity. Though extensively studied, our understanding of the signaling mechanisms employed by this large family of signaling proteins remains patchwork, and a truly "canonical" EPH/EPHRIN signal transduction pathway is not known and may not exist. Instead, several foundational evolutionarily conserved mechanisms are overlaid by a myriad of tissue -specific functions, though common themes emerge from these as well. Here, I review recent advances and the related contexts that have provided new understanding of the conserved and varied molecular and cellular mechanisms employed by EPH/EPHRIN signaling during development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeffrey O Bush
- Department of Cell and Tissue Biology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States; Program in Craniofacial Biology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States; Institute for Human Genetics, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States; Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regeneration Medicine and Stem Cell Research, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States.
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4
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Schmittmann L, Franzenburg S, Pita L. Individuality in the Immune Repertoire and Induced Response of the Sponge Halichondria panicea. Front Immunol 2021; 12:689051. [PMID: 34220847 PMCID: PMC8242945 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.689051] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2021] [Accepted: 05/28/2021] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
The animal immune system mediates host-microbe interactions from the host perspective. Pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) and the downstream signaling cascades they induce are a central part of animal innate immunity. These molecular immune mechanisms are still not fully understood, particularly in terms of baseline immunity vs induced specific responses regulated upon microbial signals. Early-divergent phyla like sponges (Porifera) can help to identify the evolutionarily conserved mechanisms of immune signaling. We characterized both the expressed immune gene repertoire and the induced response to lipopolysaccharides (LPS) in Halichondria panicea, a promising model for sponge symbioses. We exposed sponges under controlled experimental conditions to bacterial LPS and performed RNA-seq on samples taken 1h and 6h after exposure. H. panicea possesses a diverse array of putative PRRs. While part of those PRRs was constitutively expressed in all analyzed sponges, the majority was expressed individual-specific and regardless of LPS treatment or timepoint. The induced immune response by LPS involved differential regulation of genes related to signaling and recognition, more specifically GTPases and post-translational regulation mechanisms like ubiquitination and phosphorylation. We have discovered individuality in both the immune receptor repertoire and the response to LPS, which may translate into holobiont fitness and susceptibility to stress. The three different layers of immune gene control observed in this study, - namely constitutive expression, individual-specific expression, and induced genes -, draw a complex picture of the innate immune gene regulation in H. panicea. Most likely this reflects synergistic interactions among the different components of immunity in their role to control and respond to a stable microbiome, seawater bacteria, and potential pathogens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lara Schmittmann
- Research Unit Marine Symbioses, GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, Kiel, Germany
| | - Sören Franzenburg
- Research Group Genetics&Bioinformatics/Systems Immunology, Institute of Clinical Molecular Biology, Christian Albrechts University of Kiel, Kiel, Germany
| | - Lucía Pita
- Research Unit Marine Symbioses, GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, Kiel, Germany
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Arcas A, Wilkinson DG, Nieto MÁ. The Evolutionary History of Ephs and Ephrins: Toward Multicellular Organisms. Mol Biol Evol 2020; 37:379-394. [PMID: 31589243 PMCID: PMC6993872 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msz222] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Eph receptor (Eph) and ephrin signaling regulate fundamental developmental processes through both forward and reverse signaling triggered upon cell–cell contact. In vertebrates, they are both classified into classes A and B, and some representatives have been identified in many metazoan groups, where their expression and functions have been well studied. We have extended previous phylogenetic analyses and examined the presence of Eph and ephrins in the tree of life to determine their origin and evolution. We have found that 1) premetazoan choanoflagellates may already have rudimental Eph/ephrin signaling as they have an Eph-/ephrin-like pair and homologs of downstream-signaling genes; 2) both forward- and reverse-downstream signaling might already occur in Porifera since sponges have most genes involved in these types of signaling; 3) the nonvertebrate metazoan Eph is a type-B receptor that can bind ephrins regardless of their membrane-anchoring structure, glycosylphosphatidylinositol, or transmembrane; 4) Eph/ephrin cross-class binding is specific to Gnathostomata; and 5) kinase-dead Eph receptors can be traced back to Gnathostomata. We conclude that Eph/ephrin signaling is of older origin than previously believed. We also examined the presence of protein domains associated with functional characteristics and the appearance and conservation of downstream-signaling pathways to understand the original and derived functions of Ephs and ephrins. We find that the evolutionary history of these gene families points to an ancestral function in cell–cell interactions that could contribute to the emergence of multicellularity and, in particular, to the required segregation of cell populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aida Arcas
- Instituto de Neurociencias (CSIC-UMH), Avda, San Juan de Alicante, Spain
| | - David G Wilkinson
- Neural Development Laboratory, The Francis Crick Institute, London, United Kingdom
| | - M Ángela Nieto
- Instituto de Neurociencias (CSIC-UMH), Avda, San Juan de Alicante, Spain
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