title: Evolution of the pentraxin family: the new entry PTX4.
abstract: Pentraxins (PTXs) are a superfamily of multifunctional conserved proteins, some of which are components of the humoral arm of innate immunity and behave as functional ancestors of Abs. They are divided into short (C-reactive protein and serum amyloid P component) and long pentraxins (PTX3 and neuronal pentraxins). Based on a search for pentraxin domain-containing sequences in databases, a phylogenetic analysis of the pentraxin family from mammals to arthropods was conducted. This effort resulted in the identification of a new long pentraxin (PTX4) conserved from mammals to lower vertebrates, which clusters alone in phylogenetic analysis. The results indicated that the pentraxins consist of five clusters: short pentraxins, which can be found in chordate and arthropods; neuronal pentraxins; the prototypic long pentraxin PTX3, which originated very early at the divergence of the vertebrates; the Drosophila pentraxin-like protein B6; and the long pentraxin PTX4 discovered in this study. Conservation of flanking genes in mammalian evolution indicates maintenance of synteny. Analysis of PTX4, in silico and by transcript expression, shows that the gene is well conserved from mammals to lower vertebrates and has a unique pattern of mRNA expression. Thus, PTX4 is a new unique member of the pentraxin superfamily, conserved in evolution.
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio di Immunologia e Infiammazione, Istituto Clinico Humanitas, Istituto Di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico, Rozzano.
authors.forename: Yeny
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Martinez de la Torre
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fabbri
authors.forename: Sebastien
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jaillon
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bastone
authors.forename: Manuela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nebuloni
authors.forename: Annunciata
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vecchi
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mantovani
authors.forename: Cecilia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Garlanda
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D017124:Conserved Sequence / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D006224:Cricetinae; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005260:Female; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D005810:Multigene Family / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics*; D010802:Phylogeny; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary / Q000235:genetics; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000096:biosynthesis; D011817:Rabbits; D051381:Rats; D029867:Xenopus Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D029961:Zebrafish Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D000099153:Pentraxins
chemical_list: D002097:C-Reactive Protein; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D029867:Xenopus Proteins; D029961:Zebrafish Proteins; D000099153:Pentraxins