Lovejoy D A, Balment R J
School of Biological Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PT, United Kingdom.
Gen Comp Endocrinol. 1999 Jul;115(1):1-22. doi: 10.1006/gcen.1999.7298.
Corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF), urotensin-I, urocortin and sauvagine belong to a family of related neuropeptides found throughout chordate taxa and likely stem from an ancestral peptide precursor early in metazoan ancestry. In vertebrates, current evidence suggests that CRF on one hand, and urotensin-I, urocortin and sauvagine, on the other, form paralogous lineages. Urocortin and sauvagine appear to represent tetrapod orthologues of fish urotensin-I. Sauvagine's unique structure may reflect the distinctly derived evolutionary history of the anura and the amphibia in general. The physiological actions of these peptides are mediated by at least two receptor subtypes and a soluble binding protein. Although the earliest functions of these peptides may have been associated with osmoregulation and diuresis, a constellation of physiological effects associated with stress and anxiety, vasoregulation, thermoregulation, growth and metabolism, metamorphosis and reproduction have been identified in various vertebrate species. The elaboration of neural circuitry for each of the two paralogous neuropeptide systems appears to have followed distinct pathways in the actinopterygian and sarcopterygian lineages of vertebrates. A comparision of the functional differences between these two lineages predicts additional functions of these peptides.
促肾上腺皮质激素释放因子（CRF）、尾加压素-I、尿皮质素和蛙皮素属于一类相关的神经肽家族，在整个脊索动物分类群中都能找到，并且可能起源于后生动物祖先早期的一种原始肽前体。在脊椎动物中，目前的证据表明，一方面是CRF，另一方面是尾加压素-I、尿皮质素和蛙皮素，形成了旁系同源谱系。尿皮质素和蛙皮素似乎代表了鱼类尾加压素-I的四足动物直系同源物。蛙皮素独特的结构可能反映了无尾目及整个两栖纲明显的进化历史。这些肽的生理作用由至少两种受体亚型和一种可溶性结合蛋白介导。尽管这些肽最早的功能可能与渗透调节和利尿有关，但在各种脊椎动物物种中已经确定了一系列与应激和焦虑、血管调节、体温调节、生长和代谢、变态和繁殖相关的生理效应。在脊椎动物的辐鳍鱼和肉鳍鱼谱系中，这两个旁系同源神经肽系统各自的神经回路形成似乎遵循了不同的途径。对这两个谱系之间功能差异的比较预测了这些肽的其他功能。
