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Conserved function of caspase-8 in apoptosis during bony fish evolution.

ABSTRACT: Caspase-8, a member of the caspase family, plays an important role in apoptotic signal transduction in mammals. Here we report the identification and characterization of the caspase-8 (casp8) gene in the zebrafish Danio rerio. The zebrafish casp8 gene has a genomic organization similar to mammalian casp8 genes, consisting of 10 exons. By chromosome mapping, we found that casp8 maps on linkage group 6 (LG6), a zebrafish chromosome segment orthologous to the long arm of human Chr. 2, which carries CASP8. In contrast, the zebrafish casp10-like gene and the cflar gene separately localize on LG9 and LG11, respectively, and these genes form a cluster with CASP8 on the human chromosome. This chromosomal segregation is unique to fish but not other vertebrates. Furthermore, we examined the function of zebrafish Casp8 protein in mammalian cells, and showed that it has pro-apoptotic activity when overexpressed. In addition, this molecule was capable of transmitting apoptotic signals mediated through not only Fas but also the TNF receptor in mouse Casp8-deficient cells. Expression analysis showed that casp8 is maternally expressed, and transcripts continue to be present throughout embryogenesis and into larval stages. These results show that zebrafish casp8 has a structure and function similar to mammalian CASP8 orthologs, and our study suggests that the role of caspase-8 in the apoptotic signal pathway has been conserved over at least 450 million years of vertebrate evolution.

SUBMITTER: Sakata S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2064871 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Conserved function of caspase-8 in apoptosis during bony fish evolution.

Sakata Shin-ichi S Yan Yilin Y Satou Yutaka Y Momoi Akihiro A Ngo-Hazelett Phuong P Nozaki Masami M Furutani-Seiki Makoto M Postlethwait John H JH Yonehara Shin S Sakamaki Kazuhiro K

Gene 20070327 1

Caspase-8, a member of the caspase family, plays an important role in apoptotic signal transduction in mammals. Here we report the identification and characterization of the caspase-8 (casp8) gene in the zebrafish Danio rerio. The zebrafish casp8 gene has a genomic organization similar to mammalian casp8 genes, consisting of 10 exons. By chromosome mapping, we found that casp8 maps on linkage group 6 (LG6), a zebrafish chromosome segment orthologous to the long arm of human Chr. 2, which carries ...[more]

PMID: 17459614

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Project description:Satb1 and Satb2 belong to a family of homeodomain proteins with highly conserved functional and regulatory mechanisms and posttranslational modifications in evolution. However, although their distribution in the mouse brain has been analyzed, few data exist in other non-mammalian vertebrates. In the present study, we have analyzed in detail the sequence of SATB1 and SATB2 proteins and the immunolocalization of both, in combination with additional neuronal markers of highly conserved populations, in the brain of adult specimens of different bony fish models at key evolutionary points of vertebrate diversification, in particular including representative species of sarcopterygian and actinopterygian fishes. We observed a striking absence of both proteins in the pallial region of actinopterygians, only detected in lungfish, the only sarcopterygian fish. In the subpallium, including the amygdaloid complex, or comparable structures, we identified that the detected expressions of SATB1 and SATB2 have similar topologies in the studied models. In the caudal telencephalon, all models showed significant expression of SATB1 and SATB2 in the preoptic area, including the acroterminal domain of this region, where the cells were also dopaminergic. In the alar hypothalamus, all models showed SATB2 but not SATB1 in the subparaventricular area, whereas in the basal hypothalamus the cladistian species and the lungfish presented a SATB1 immunoreactive population in the tuberal hypothalamus, also labeled with SATB2 in the latter and colocalizing with the gen Orthopedia. In the diencephalon, all models, except the teleost fish, showed SATB1 in the prethalamus, thalamus and pretectum, whereas only lungfish showed also SATB2 in prethalamus and thalamus. At the midbrain level of actinopterygian fish, the optic tectum, the torus semicircularis and the tegmentum harbored populations of SATB1 cells, whereas lungfish housed SATB2 only in the torus and tegmentum. Similarly, the SATB1 expression in the rhombencephalic central gray and reticular formation was a common feature. The presence of SATB1 in the solitary tract nucleus is a peculiar feature only observed in non-teleost actinopterygian fishes. At these levels, none of the detected populations were catecholaminergic or serotonergic. In conclusion, the protein sequence analysis revealed a high degree of conservation of both proteins, especially in the functional domains, whereas the neuroanatomical pattern of SATB1 and SATB2 revealed significant differences between sarcopterygians and actinopterygians, and these divergences may be related to the different functional involvement of both in the acquisition of various neural phenotypes.

Dataset Information

Conserved function of caspase-8 in apoptosis during bony fish evolution.

Publications

Conserved function of caspase-8 in apoptosis during bony fish evolution.

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