PUBLICATION

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

Authors
Gauchat, D., Escriva, H., Miljkovic-Licina, M., Chera, S., Langlois, M.C., Begue, A., Laudet, V., and Galliot, B.
ID
ZDB-PUB-041029-3
Date
2004
Source
Developmental Biology   275(1): 104-123 (Journal)
Registered Authors
Escriva, Hector, Laudet, Vincent
Keywords
Hydra; Cnidaria; Orphan nuclear receptors; COUP-TF; Paired-like homeobox gene; Transactivation; Mechanoreceptor cells; Nematocytes; Neurogenesis; Stem cells; Evolution; BrdU labeling
MeSH Terms
  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Animals
  • Biological Evolution
  • Biomarkers/metabolism
  • COUP Transcription Factors
  • Cnidaria/metabolism*
  • Conserved Sequence
  • DNA-Binding Proteins/genetics
  • DNA-Binding Proteins/isolation & purification
  • DNA-Binding Proteins/metabolism*
  • Homeodomain Proteins/metabolism
  • Hydra/metabolism
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Neurons/metabolism
  • Phylogeny
  • Protein Isoforms/genetics
  • Protein Isoforms/isolation & purification
  • Protein Isoforms/metabolism
  • Receptors, Steroid/genetics
  • Receptors, Steroid/isolation & purification
  • Receptors, Steroid/metabolism*
  • Sequence Alignment
  • Stem Cells/metabolism
  • Transcription Factors/genetics
  • Transcription Factors/isolation & purification
  • Transcription Factors/metabolism*
PubMed
15464576 Full text @ Dev. Biol.
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.
Genes / Markers
Figures
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping