Aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) in the cnidarian Nematostella vectensis: comparative expression, protein interactions, and ligand binding.

ABSTRACT: The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) is a member of the basic helix-loop-helix/Per-ARNT-Sim (bHLH-PAS) family of transcription factors and has diverse roles in development, physiology, and environmental sensing in bilaterian animals. Studying the expression of conserved genes and function of proteins in outgroups to protostomes and deuterostomes assists in understanding the antiquity of gene function and deciphering lineage-specific differences in these bilaterian clades. We describe the developmental expression of AHR from the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis and compare its expression with three other members of the bHLH-PAS family (AHR nuclear translocator (ARNT), Cycle, and a proto-Single-Minded/Trachealess). NvAHR expression was highest early in the larval stage with spatial expressi

SUBMITTER: Reitzel AM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3915718 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature