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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 3, 2026

Isolation of Human Myoblasts, Assessment of Myogenic Differentiation, and Store-operated Calcium Entry Measurement

Isolation of Human Myoblasts, Assessment of Myogenic Differentiation, and Store-operated Calcium Entry Measurement

Published on: July 26, 2017

Stanniocalcin has deep evolutionary roots in eukaryotes.

Graeme J Roch¹, Nancy M Sherwood

¹Department of Biology, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada V8W 3N5.

Genome Biology and Evolution

|March 16, 2011

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Stanniocalcin (STC) homologs, crucial for calcium and phosphate balance, are found across diverse eukaryotes, appearing early in evolution. Their ancient origins and conserved cysteine patterns suggest widespread biological roles.

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Area of Science:

Evolutionary Biology
Biochemistry
Genomics

Background:

Stanniocalcin (STC) is a vertebrate glycoprotein hormone involved in calcium and phosphate homeostasis.
Two forms, STC1 and STC2, are found in various tissues, but their receptors and signaling pathways remain unknown.
Previous research focused on vertebrates, leaving the broader evolutionary history of STC unexplored.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the evolutionary origins and distribution of stanniocalcin homologs beyond vertebrates.
To identify conserved structural features of stanniocalcin across different organisms.
To predict the early evolutionary appearance of stanniocalcin homologs.

Main Methods:

Phylogenetic investigation using BLAST and HMMER homology searches.
Analysis of protein, genomic, and expressed sequence tag databases.
Identification of conserved cysteine patterns as a key recognition feature.

Main Results:

Novel stanniocalcin homologs were identified in diverse multicellular and unicellular eukaryotes, excluding plants and algae.
STC homologs are present in most major eukaryotic groups, with notable exceptions like echinoderms and arthropods.
A conserved pattern of ten cysteines was the critical feature for recognizing stanniocalcins, despite low amino acid sequence identity.

Conclusions:

Large secreted stanniocalcin homologs likely evolved as early as single-celled eukaryotes.
The conserved cysteine pattern suggests a fundamental role for stanniocalcin across eukaryotic evolution.
Further research is needed to elucidate the receptor and signaling pathways for stanniocalcin homologs.