title: Evolution of the sarafotoxin/endothelin superfamily of proteins.
abstract: Sixteen protein and nucleic acid sequences from the vasoconstrictor sarafotoxin/endothelin/endothelin-like superfamily of peptides were studied, and the evolutionary relationships between the sarafotoxin and endothelin gene families as well as the phylogenetic topology within each gene family and the three endothelin subfamilies was reconstructed. The endothelin gene family has diverged from an ancestral gene that has experienced an exon duplication event followed by two gene duplication events. The sarafotoxins' lineage diverged from the ancestral gene prior to the first endothelin gene duplication event. Analysis of the resulting phylogenetic trees revealed that in several lineages, the peptides have independently accumulated identical replacements in position 2, therefore supporting the hypothesis that residue 2 is crucial to their activity.
authors.affiliation: Interdisciplinary Program for Fostering Excellence, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv, Israel.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Landan
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bdolah
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wollberg
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kochva
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Graur
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D005075:Biological Evolution; D016232:Endothelins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D014757:Viper Venoms / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D016232:Endothelins; D014757:Viper Venoms; C057354:sarafotoxins s6