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Echinoderms provide missing link in the evolution of PrRP/sNPF-type neuropeptide signalling
Luis Alfonso Yañez-Guerra1, Xingxing Zhong1, Ismail Moghul1
1Queen Mary University of London, School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, London, United Kingdom.
Elife
|June 25, 2020
Summary
Echinoderms possess prolactin-releasing peptide (PrRP)-type neuropeptides and short neuropeptide-F (sNPF)/PrRP-type receptors, suggesting these systems are ancient and originated from neuropeptide-Y (NPY)/neuropeptide-F (NPF) signaling.
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary biology
- Neuroendocrinology
- Comparative genomics
Background:
- Neuropeptide systems regulate physiology and behavior across taxa.
- Determining neuropeptide orthology between species presents challenges.
- Vertebrate neuropeptide-Y (NPY) has orthologs (neuropeptide-F, NPF) in invertebrates, with paralogs like prolactin-releasing peptide (PrRP) and short neuropeptide-F (sNPF) in vertebrates and protostomes.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate neuropeptide signaling systems related to NPY/NPF/PrRP/sNPF in echinoderms (deuterostome invertebrates).
- Identify orthologs of these neuropeptide systems within the Echinodermata phylum.
Main Methods:
- Transcriptome and genome sequence data analysis.
- Bioinformatic identification of neuropeptide and receptor genes.
- Experimental validation using a starfish model (Asterias rubens).
Main Results:
- Echinoderms lack NPY/NPF signaling but possess PrRP-type neuropeptides and sNPF/PrRP-type receptors.
- A specific PrRP-type neuropeptide was identified as a potent ligand for an sNPF/PrRP-type receptor in Asterias rubens.
- These findings suggest PrRP and sNPF signaling systems are orthologous.
Conclusions:
- PrRP-type and sNPF-type signaling systems are orthologous in echinoderms.
- These systems likely originated as paralogs of NPY/NPF signaling in the common ancestor (Urbilateria).
- This research expands our understanding of neuropeptide evolution in invertebrates.
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