Peripheral and central employment of acid-sensing ion channels during early bilaterian evolution.

ABSTRACT: Nervous systems are endowed with rapid chemosensation and intercellular signaling by ligand-gated ion channels (LGICs). While a complex, bilaterally symmetrical nervous system is a major innovation of bilaterian animals, the employment of specific LGICs during early bilaterian evolution is poorly understood. We therefore questioned bilaterian animals' employment of acid-sensing ion channels (ASICs), LGICs that mediate fast excitatory responses to decreases in extracellular pH in vertebrate neurons. Our phylogenetic analysis identified an earlier emergence of ASICs from the overarching DEG/ENaC (degenerin/epithelial sodium channel) superfamily than previously thought and suggests that ASICs were a bilaterian innovation. Our broad examination of ASIC gene expression and biophysical function

SUBMITTER: Marti-Solans J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9949801 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature