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Complejidad inesperada de la familia de genes Wnt en una anémona de mar
Arne Kusserow1, Kevin Pang, Carsten Sturm
1Institute of Zoology, Darmstadt University of Technology, Schnittspahnstrasse 10, D-64287 Darmstadt, Germany.
Nature
|January 15, 2005
Resumen
La familia de genes Wnt.
Área de la Ciencia:
- Biología del desarrollo evolutivo Biología del desarrollo evolutivo
- La genómica es la genómica.
- Biología molecular La biología molecular.
Sus antecedentes:
- La familia de genes Wnt codifica moléculas de señalización secretadas cruciales para el desarrollo y la enfermedad de los animales.
- La historia evolutiva de la familia de genes Wnt específica de metazoos sigue siendo en gran medida desconocida.
- Estudios anteriores identificaron doce subfamilias de Wnt en vertebrados, con sólo seis encontrados en Ecdysozoa.
Objetivo del estudio:
- Investigar la diversidad ancestral y la evolución de la familia de genes Wnt.
- Para caracterizar el repertorio de genes Wnt en los cnidarios, que representan un linaje metazoario temprano.
- Para entender la evolución temprana de la señalización Wnt en animales multicelulares.
Principales métodos:
- Aislamiento e identificación de genes Wnt de la anémona de mar Nematostella vectensis.
- Análisis filogenéticos para determinar las relaciones genéticas Wnt y la conservación de la subfamilia.
- Análisis de los patrones de expresión génica de Wnt durante la embriogénesis de N. vectensis.
Principales resultados:
- Doce genes Wnt fueron identificados en Nematostella vectensis, lo que indica una significativa diversidad ancestral.
- Los análisis filogenéticos revelaron que al menos once subfamilias de Wnt se comparten entre los cnidarios y los bilaterianos.
- Cinco subfamilias de Wnt parecen haberse perdido en el linaje del protostomo.
- La expresión génica Wnt durante la embriogénesis destaca las funciones en la gastrulación y la formación del eje primario.
Conclusiones:
- La familia de genes Wnt desarrolló una mayor complejidad en los primeros animales multicelulares de lo que se pensaba anteriormente, antes de la explosión cámbrica.
- Los hallazgos sugieren un papel crucial para los genes Wnt en la diversificación de los primeros planes corporales de los eumetazoos.
- Este estudio proporciona nuevos conocimientos sobre la profunda historia evolutiva de la señalización Wnt.
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