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Insights into the origin of metazoan filopodia and microvilli.

ABSTRACT: Filopodia are fine actin-based cellular projections used for both environmental sensing and cell motility, and they are essential organelles for metazoan cells. In this study, we reconstruct the origin of metazoan filopodia and microvilli. We first report on the evolutionary assembly of the filopodial molecular toolkit and show that homologs of many metazoan filopodial components, including fascin and myosin X, were already present in the unicellular or colonial progenitors of metazoans. Furthermore, we find that the actin crosslinking protein fascin localizes to filopodia-like structures and microvilli in the choanoflagellate Salpingoeca rosetta. In addition, homologs of filopodial genes in the holozoan Capsaspora owczarzaki are upregulated in filopodia-bearing cells relative to those that lack them. Therefore, our findings suggest that proteins essential for metazoan filopodia and microvilli are functionally conserved in unicellular and colonial holozoans and that the last common ancestor of metazoans bore a complex and specific filopodial machinery.

SUBMITTER: Sebe-Pedros A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3748353 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Insights into the origin of metazoan filopodia and microvilli.

Sebé-Pedrós Arnau A Burkhardt Pawel P Sánchez-Pons Núria N Fairclough Stephen R SR Lang B Franz BF King Nicole N Ruiz-Trillo Iñaki I

Molecular biology and evolution 20130614 9

Filopodia are fine actin-based cellular projections used for both environmental sensing and cell motility, and they are essential organelles for metazoan cells. In this study, we reconstruct the origin of metazoan filopodia and microvilli. We first report on the evolutionary assembly of the filopodial molecular toolkit and show that homologs of many metazoan filopodial components, including fascin and myosin X, were already present in the unicellular or colonial progenitors of metazoans. Further ...[more]

PMID: 23770652

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Insights into the origin of metazoan filopodia and microvilli.

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Insights into the origin of metazoan filopodia and microvilli.

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