Phylogenetic analysis of the tenascin gene family: evidence of origin early in the chordate lineage.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Tenascins are a family of glycoproteins found primarily in the extracellular matrix of embryos where they help to regulate cell proliferation, adhesion and migration. In order to learn more about their origins and relationships to each other, as well as to clarify the nomenclature used to describe them, the tenascin genes of the urochordate Ciona intestinalis, the pufferfish Tetraodon nigroviridis and Takifugu rubripes and the frog Xenopus tropicalis were identified and their gene organization and predicted protein products compared with the previously characterized tenascins of amniotes.

Results

A single tenascin gene was identified in the genome of C. intestinalis that encodes a polypeptide with domain features common to all vertebrate tenascins. Both pufferfish

SUBMITTER: Tucker RP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1578592 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature