title: Physiology and Evolution of Voltage-Gated Calcium Channels in Early Diverging Animal Phyla: Cnidaria, Placozoa, Porifera and Ctenophora.
abstract: Voltage-gated calcium (Cav) channels serve dual roles in the cell, where they can both depolarize the membrane potential for electrical excitability, and activate transient cytoplasmic Ca2+signals. In animals, Cavchannels play crucial roles including driving muscle contraction (excitation-contraction coupling), gene expression (excitation-transcription coupling), pre-synaptic and neuroendocrine exocytosis (excitation-secretion coupling), regulation of flagellar/ciliary beating, and regulation of cellular excitability, either directly or through modulation of other Ca2+-sensitive ion channels. In recent years, genome sequencing has provided significant insights into the molecular evolution of Cavchannels. Furthermore, expanded gene datasets have permitted improved inference of the species phylogeny at the base of Metazoa, providing clearer insights into the evolution of complex animal traits which involve Cavchannels, including the nervous system. For the various types of metazoan Cavchannels, key properties that determine their cellular contribution include: Ion selectivity, pore gating, and, importantly, cytoplasmic protein-protein interactions that direct sub-cellular localization and functional complexing. It is unclear when these defining features, many of which are essential for nervous system function, evolved. In this review, we highlight some experimental observations that implicate Cavchannels in the physiology and behavior of the most early-diverging animals from the phyla Cnidaria, Placozoa, Porifera, and Ctenophora. Given our limited understanding of the molecular biology of Cavchannels in these basal animal lineages, we infer insights from better-studied vertebrate and invertebrate animals. We also highlight some apparently conserved cellular functions of Cavchannels, which might have emerged very early on during metazoan evolution, or perhaps predated it.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Toronto Mississauga Mississauga, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Adriano
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Senatore
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Toronto Mississauga Mississauga, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Hamad
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Raiss
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Toronto Mississauga Mississauga, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Phuong
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Le
keywords: calcium channel evolution; early-diverging animals; evolution of the nervous system; excitation-contracting coupling; pre-synaptic exocytosis; regulation of ciliary beating; synapse evolution; synaptic scaffolding