Scientific article
OA Policy
English

The orphan COUP-TF nuclear receptors are markers for neurogenesis from cnidarians to vertebrates

Published inDevelopmental biology, vol. 275, no. 1, p. 104-123
Publication date2004
Abstract

In bilaterians, COUP-TF nuclear receptors participate in neurogenesis and/or CNS patterning. In hydra, the nervous system is formed of sensory mechanoreceptor cells (nematocytes) and neuronal cells, both lineages deriving from a common stem cell. The hydra COUP-TF gene, hyCOUP-TF, which encodes highly conserved DNA-binding and ligand-binding domains, belongs to the monophyletic COUP-TFs orphan receptor family (NR2F). In adult polyps, hyCOUP-TF is expressed in nematoblasts and a subset of neuronal cells. Comparative BrDU labeling analyses performed on cells expressing either hyCOUP-TF or the paired-like gene prdl-b showed that prdl-b expression corresponded to early stages of proliferation, while hyCOUP-TF was detected slightly later. HyCOUP-TF and prdl-b expressing cells disappeared in sf-1 mutants becoming "nerve-free". Moreover hyCOUP-TF and prdl-b expression was excluded from regions undergoing developmental processes. These data suggest that hyCOUP-TF and prdl-b belong to a genetic network that appeared together with neurogenesis during early metazoan evolution. The hyCOUP-TF protein specifically bound onto the evolutionarily conserved DR1 and DR5 response elements, and repressed transactivation induced by RAR:RXR nuclear receptors in a dose-dependent manner when expressed in mammalian cells. Hence, a cnidarian transcription factor can be active in vertebrate cells, implying that functional interactions between COUP-TF and other nuclear receptors were evolutionarily conserved.

Keywords
  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Animals
  • Biological Evolution
  • Biological Markers/metabolism
  • COUP Transcription Factors
  • Cnidaria/metabolism
  • Conserved Sequence
  • DNA-Binding Proteins/genetics/isolation & purification/metabolism
  • Homeodomain Proteins/metabolism
  • Hydra/metabolism
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Neurons/metabolism
  • Phylogeny
  • Protein Isoforms/genetics/isolation & purification/metabolism
  • Receptors, Steroid/genetics/isolation & purification/metabolism
  • Sequence Alignment
  • Stem Cells/metabolism
  • Transcription Factors/genetics/isolation & purification/metabolism
Research groups
Funding
  • Swiss National Science Foundation - 3100-59462.99
Citation (ISO format)
GAUCHAT-FEISS, Dominique Madeleine et al. The orphan COUP-TF nuclear receptors are markers for neurogenesis from cnidarians to vertebrates. In: Developmental biology, 2004, vol. 275, n° 1, p. 104–123. doi: 10.1016/j.ydbio.2004.07.037
Main files (1)
Article (Accepted version)
accessLevelPublic
Identifiers
Journal ISSN0012-1606
636views
1143downloads

Technical informations

Creation08/17/2014 5:54:00 AM
First validation08/17/2014 5:54:00 AM
Update time03/14/2023 9:31:31 PM
Status update03/14/2023 9:31:31 PM
Last indexation10/30/2024 7:43:48 PM
All rights reserved by Archive ouverte UNIGE and the University of GenevaunigeBlack