Elphick Maurice R, Mirabeau Olivier, Larhammar Dan
School of Biological & Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London E1 4NS, UK
Genetics and Biology of Cancers Unit, Institut Curie, INSERM U830, Paris Sciences et Lettres Research University, Paris 75005, France.
J Exp Biol. 2018 Feb 9;221(Pt 3):jeb151092. doi: 10.1242/jeb.151092.
Neuropeptides are a diverse class of neuronal signalling molecules that regulate physiological processes and behaviour in animals. However, determining the relationships and evolutionary origins of the heterogeneous assemblage of neuropeptides identified in a range of phyla has presented a huge challenge for comparative physiologists. Here, we review revolutionary insights into the evolution of neuropeptide signalling that have been obtained recently through comparative analysis of genome/transcriptome sequence data and by 'deorphanisation' of neuropeptide receptors. The evolutionary origins of at least 30 neuropeptide signalling systems have been traced to the common ancestor of protostomes and deuterostomes. Furthermore, two rounds of genome duplication gave rise to an expanded repertoire of neuropeptide signalling systems in the vertebrate lineage, enabling neofunctionalisation and/or subfunctionalisation, but with lineage-specific gene loss and/or additional gene or genome duplications generating complex patterns in the phylogenetic distribution of paralogous neuropeptide signalling systems. We are entering a new era in neuropeptide research where it has become feasible to compare the physiological roles of orthologous and paralogous neuropeptides in a wide range of phyla. Moreover, the ambitious mission to reconstruct the evolution of neuropeptide function in the animal kingdom now represents a tangible challenge for the future.
神经肽是一类多样的神经元信号分子，可调节动物的生理过程和行为。然而，确定在一系列动物门类中鉴定出的神经肽异质组合之间的关系及其进化起源，对比较生理学家而言是一项巨大的挑战。在此，我们回顾了最近通过基因组/转录组序列数据的比较分析以及神经肽受体的“去孤儿化”而获得的关于神经肽信号传导进化的突破性见解。至少30种神经肽信号系统的进化起源已追溯到原口动物和后口动物的共同祖先。此外，两轮基因组复制导致脊椎动物谱系中神经肽信号系统的种类有所增加，从而实现了新功能化和/或亚功能化，但由于谱系特异性基因丢失和/或额外的基因或基因组复制，在旁系同源神经肽信号系统的系统发育分布中产生了复杂的模式。我们正进入神经肽研究的新时代，在这个时代，比较广泛动物门类中直系同源和旁系同源神经肽的生理作用已变得可行。此外，重建动物王国中神经肽功能进化这一宏伟任务现在对未来而言是一项切实的挑战。
