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First published online April 13, 2005

Development 132, 904e (2005)
© The Company of Biologists Limited
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In this issue

Neural complexity signalled from the past


Neurotrophins and their tyrosine kinase Trk receptors are central to the development of the complex vertebrate nervous system. The neurotrophin/Trk system is absent in non-vertebrates and is generally regarded as a vertebrate innovation. Benito-Gutiérrez and colleagues now show that Trk receptors originated at least 550 million years ago, before the cephalochordate/vertebrate split (see p. 2191). Amphioxus (lancelets) have a vertebrate-like body plan but lack true vertebrae or a complex nervous system. In their study, the researchers isolate the single amphioxus Trk receptor gene AmphiTrk and describe its ancestral link to vertebrate Trks. In cultured rat cells, AmphiTrk transduces signals mediated by mammalian neurotrophins and activates survival and differentiation pathways but not the PLC{gamma} pathway that is involved in synaptic plasticity. The researchers suggest that the duplication and divergence of the neurotrophin/Trk system, together with recruitment of the PLC{gamma} pathway, underlies the evolution of vertebrate neural complexity.


Related articles in Development:

The single AmphiTrk receptor highlights increased complexity of neurotrophin signalling in vertebrates and suggests an early role in developing sensory neuroepidermal cells
Èlia Benito-Gutiérrez, Christian Nake, Marta Llovera, Joan X. Comella, and Jordi Garcia-Fernàndez
Development 2005 132: 2191-2202. [Abstract] [Full Text]  




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