Independent Innexin Radiation Shaped Signaling in Ctenophores.

ABSTRACT: Innexins facilitate cell-cell communication by forming gap junctions or nonjunctional hemichannels, which play important roles in metabolic, chemical, ionic, and electrical coupling. The lack of knowledge regarding the evolution and role of these channels in ctenophores (comb jellies), the likely sister group to the rest of animals, represents a substantial gap in our understanding of the evolution of intercellular communication in animals. Here, we identify and phylogenetically characterize the complete set of innexins of four ctenophores: Mnemiopsis leidyi, Hormiphora californensis, Pleurobrachia bachei, and Beroe ovata. Our phylogenetic analyses suggest that ctenophore innexins diversified independently from those of other animals and were established early in the emergence of ctenophor

SUBMITTER: Ortiz J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9949713 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature