![]() ![]() Incidentally, glutamate signaling modulation is one of the most prominent and conserved features of glial cells from Caenorhabditis elegans 13 and Drosophila melanogaster 14 to mammals 15. However, vesicular transporter expression is abundant in epithelial cells, and it is unclear whether glutamate functions as a neurotransmitter in this basal lineage 5. Glutamate has been suggested as a candidate chemical messenger in ctenophores 12. vectensis suggests that chemical transmitters in secretory vesicles bearing these transporters are used as neurotransmitters in Cnidaria (Fig. Neuronal expression of glutamate and GABA/glycine vesicular transporters in N. The Cnidaria is thought to share key features of the bilaterian NS, including a diverse repertoire of neurons and neurotransmitters, in addition to a complete set of bilaterian gene homologs driving neurogenesis and neuron specification 9, 10, 11. Neurons of both phyla are organized in nerve nets with regional condensation sites and are neuropeptide-rich 5, 6, 7, 8. Gliogenic program conservation has not been investigated to date in Cnidaria or any other non-bilaterians.Ĭnidaria and Ctenophora are the neuron-bearing phyla among non-bilaterians. Where did glial cells originate, and what were their first functions? Glial cells are hypothesized to have evolved with the appearance of a centralized nervous system, i.e., after the common bilaterian ancestor branched off from the Cnidaria (Fig. Together with the finding of unique morphological features of NvEAAT1-functioning cells, these data suggest that extracellular glutamate metabolism, one of major glial functions, is deployed downstream of Gcm in specific neural cell types in Cnidaria. However, immunostaining of a NvGcm target protein, the glutamate transporter, NvEAAT1, visualized a novel class of cells with flat cell bodies and no clear processes. ![]() NvGcm and mRNAs of downstream genes are expressed in broad neural cell clusters. ![]() siRNA-mediated knockdown of Nematostella Gcm altered expression of cell adhesion proteins, glutamate and GABA transporters, ion channels, metabolic enzymes, and zinc finger and Ets-related TFs. In this study, we analyzed the function of Gcm, a multifunctional TF involved in development of glial and non-glial cell types, in the sea anemone, Nematostella vectensis. Many of these TFs including the glial cells missing ( Gcm) are also present in genomes of Cnidaria, the closest outgroup to Bilateria, but their function remains to be elucidated. The diversity of transcription factors (TFs) involved in gliogenesis suggests multiple evolutionary origins of various glial cell types of bilaterians. In bilaterian central nervous systems, coordination of neurotransmission by glial cells enables highly sophisticated neural functions. ![]()
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