A single and novel natriuretic peptide is expressed in the heart and brain of the most primitive vertebrate, the hagfish (Eptatretus burgeri).

In teleost fish and tetrapods, the natriuretic peptide (NP) family consists of ANP (atrial natriuretic peptide), BNP (brain natriuretic peptide) and VNP (ventricular natriuretic peptide) that are secreted from the heart, and C-type natriuretic peptide (CNP) that is found in the brain. However, CNP is the only NP identified in the heart and brain of elasmobranchs, suggesting that it is the ancestral type of the NP family and that ANP, BNP and VNP appeared later in the vertebrate phylogeny. To delineate more clearly the molecular evolution of this hormone family, we determined the sequence of NP molecule(s) in evolutionarily the oldest vertebrate group, the cyclostomes. We have cloned a novel NP cDNA from the heart and brain of hagfish, Eptatretus burgeri, using the RACE method and degenerate primers that amplify all known types of NP cDNAs. The novel NP, named EbuNP after the scientific name of this hagfish, appears to be the only NP in the heart and brain, as no other NP cDNAs were amplified even after specific removal of the cloned EbuNP mRNA from the mRNA pool, except for a minor alternatively spliced EbuNP cDNA with a truncated 3'-untranslated sequence. The EbuNP was equally similar to known NPs but was not considered to be a CNP because of the presence of a C-terminal tail sequence. The EbuNP gene was abundantly expressed in the cardiac atrium, ventricle, portal heart and brain but scarcely in the intestine; no expression was observed in the gill and kidney. Mass spectrometry of affinity-purified EbuNP in plasma, heart and brain revealed a 68 amino acid peptide circulating in the blood and stored in the heart, which is cleaved at the typical cleavage signal of a processing enzyme, furin, as observed in mammalian BNP. The C-terminal Gly residue was used for amidation as is the case in eel ANP. The immunoreactive EbuNP was not detected in the brain, suggesting the presence of a different processing form in the brain. These results show that the molecular evolution of the NP family in vertebrates is more complex than previously thought.