comparative genomics of neuroglobin reveals its early origins比较基因组学neuroglobin揭示了其早期的起源.pdfVIP

Comparative Genomics of Neuroglobin Reveals Its Early Origins ¨ 1 1 2 1 Jasmin Droge , Amit Pande , Ella W. Englander , Wojciech Makałowski * 1 Institute of Bioinformatics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Muenster, Muenster, Germany, 2 Department of Surgery, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas, United States of America Abstract Background: Neuroglobin (Ngb) is a hexacoordinated globin expressed mainly in the central and peripheral nervous system of vertebrates. Although several hypotheses have been put forward regarding the role of neuroglobin, its definite function remains uncertain. Ngb appears to have a neuro-protective role enhancing cell viability under hypoxia and other types of oxidative stress. Ngb is phylogenetically ancient and has a substitution rate nearly four times lower than that of other vertebrate globins, e.g. hemoglobin. Despite its high sequence conservation among vertebrates Ngb seems to be elusive in invertebrates. Principal Findings: We determined candidate orthologs in invertebrates and identified a globin of the placozoan Trichoplax adhaerens that is most likely orthologous to vertebrate Ngb and confirmed the orthologous relationship of the polymeric globin of the sea urchin Strongylocentrotus purpuratus to Ngb. The putative orthologous globin genes are located next to genes orthologous to vertebrate POMT2 similarly to localization of vertebrate Ngb. The shared syntenic position of the globins from Trichoplax, the sea urchin and of vertebrate Ngb strongly suggests that they are orthologous. A search for conserved transcription factor binding sites