title: Identification and evolution of an NFAT gene involving Branchiostoma belcheri innate immunity.
abstract: The Nuclear Factor of Activated T cells (NFAT) plays an important role in innate and adaptive immunity, but no NFAT genes have yet been identified in amphioxus species. Here we identified and characterized an NFAT-like gene from Branchiostoma belcheri, and also studied extensively the evolutionary history of NFAT family genes. We found that the amphioxus genome contains an AmphiNFAT gene encoding an NFAT homolog. The AmphiNFAT gene was found to be involved in the innate immune response to LPS stimulation in B. belcheri and was ubiquitously and differentially expressed in all investigated tissues. The NFAT family genes were present in a common ancestor with cnidaria, and NFAT1-4 paralogs were lost early in Branchiostoma and Strongylocentrotus genomes. We discovered that NFAT family genes underwent strong purifying selection. Taken together, our findings provide an insight into the innate immune response of amphioxus and the evolution of the NFAT gene family.
authors: Laboratory for Comparative Genomics and Bioinformatics & Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Biodiversity and Biotechnology, College of Life Science, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210046, PR China.
authors: Xiaojun
authors: X
authors: Song
authors: Jing
authors: J
authors: Hu
authors: Ping
authors: P
authors: Jin
authors: Liming
authors: L
authors: Chen
authors: Fei
authors: F
authors: Ma
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D006801:Humans; D007113:Immunity, Innate / Q000235:genetics*; D064175:Lancelets / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology*; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides / Q000276:immunology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D005810:Multigene Family; D050778:NFATC Transcription Factors / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D010802:Phylogeny; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D008070:Lipopolysaccharides; C118125:NFAT5 protein, human; D050778:NFATC Transcription Factors; D014157:Transcription Factors
keywords: Amphioxus; Evolution; Innate immunity; LPS; NFAT