title: Identification of chondroitin/dermatan sulfotransferases in the protochordate, Ciona intestinalis.
abstract: Sulfated glycosaminoglycans are important components of connective tissues. The pattern of sulfation is important for their biological functions. Ascidians, the closest relatives of vertebrates, have a simple chordate body plan. In the present study, we identified an almost complete set of genes encoding proteins homologous to chondroitin/dermatan sulfotransferases in the genome of the ascidian Ciona intestinalis. We found eight genes encoding 4-O-sulfotransferases, eight genes encoding 6-O-sulfotransferases, and three genes encoding uronyl 2-O-sulfotransferases. The number of sulfotransferase genes was unexpectedly large, considering that ascidians do not have a well-developed endoskeleton. In addition, most of the genes within each sub-family seemed to have arisen by gene duplication events that occurred in the ascidian lineage after divergence from the main chordate lineage. This suggests that a unique pattern of sulfation independently developed during ascidian evolution. Some of the genes identified in the present study showed tissue-specific expression in the epidermis, notochord, muscle, and central nervous system. Region-specific expression in the epidermis was also observed. The present study provides useful information for further comparative and functional analyses of sulfotransferases and proteoglycans in chordate embryos.
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Science, Faculty of Science, Kochi University, 2-5-1 Akebono-cho, Kochi-shi, Kochi 780-8520, Japan.
authors.forename: Akira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tetsukawa
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: Shigeki
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fujiwara
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D002809:Chondroitin Sulfates / Q000378:metabolism; D002938:Ciona intestinalis / Q000196:embryology / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics; D003871:Dermatan Sulfate / Q000378:metabolism; D004625:Embryo, Nonmammalian / Q000201:enzymology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009672:Notochord / Q000378:metabolism; D010802:Phylogeny; D011509:Proteoglycans / Q000378:metabolism; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D015238:Sulfotransferases / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D000097811:Carbohydrate Sulfotransferases
chemical_list: D002809:Chondroitin Sulfates; D003871:Dermatan Sulfate; D011509:Proteoglycans; D015238:Sulfotransferases; D000097811:Carbohydrate Sulfotransferases; C019893:chondroitin 4-sulfotransferase