Amino Acid Animals Computational Biology Databases de novo gene DNA Evolution Genetic Genome Humans lncRNA Mice Molecular Molecular Sequence Data Nucleic Acid Proteins Proteins: chemistry Proteins: genetics Repetitive Sequences ribosome profiling RNA-Seq Sequence Analysis Sequence Homology transcriptomics yeast
2012 |
Toll-Riera, Macarena, Bostick, David, Albà, M Mar, Plotkin, Joshua B Structure and age jointly influence rates of protein evolution. (Article) PLoS computational biology, 8 (5), pp. e1002542, 2012, ISSN: 1553-7358. (Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Animals, Binding Sites, Computational Biology, Eukaryota, Evolution, Humans, Mice, Molecular, Protein Conformation, Protein Stability, Proteins, Proteins: chemistry, Proteins: genetics, Proteins: metabolism, Solvents) @article{Toll-Riera2012a, title = {Structure and age jointly influence rates of protein evolution.}, author = {Toll-Riera, Macarena and Bostick, David and Albà, M Mar and Plotkin, Joshua B}, url = {http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=3364943&tool=pmcentrez&rendertype=abstract}, issn = {1553-7358}, year = {2012}, date = {2012-01-01}, journal = {PLoS computational biology}, volume = {8}, number = {5}, pages = {e1002542}, abstract = {What factors determine a protein's rate of evolution are actively debated. Especially unclear is the relative role of intrinsic factors of present-day proteins versus historical factors such as protein age. Here we study the interplay of structural properties and evolutionary age, as determinants of protein evolutionary rate. We use a large set of one-to-one orthologs between human and mouse proteins, with mapped PDB structures. We report that previously observed structural correlations also hold within each age group - including relationships between solvent accessibility, designabililty, and evolutionary rates. However, age also plays a crucial role: age modulates the relationship between solvent accessibility and rate. Additionally, younger proteins, despite being less designable, tend to evolve faster than older proteins. We show that previously reported relationships between age and rate cannot be explained by structural biases among age groups. Finally, we introduce a knowledge-based potential function to study the stability of proteins through large-scale computation. We find that older proteins are more stable for their native structure, and more robust to mutations, than younger ones. Our results underscore that several determinants, both intrinsic and historical, can interact to determine rates of protein evolution.}, keywords = {Animals, Binding Sites, Computational Biology, Eukaryota, Evolution, Humans, Mice, Molecular, Protein Conformation, Protein Stability, Proteins, Proteins: chemistry, Proteins: genetics, Proteins: metabolism, Solvents} } What factors determine a protein's rate of evolution are actively debated. Especially unclear is the relative role of intrinsic factors of present-day proteins versus historical factors such as protein age. Here we study the interplay of structural properties and evolutionary age, as determinants of protein evolutionary rate. We use a large set of one-to-one orthologs between human and mouse proteins, with mapped PDB structures. We report that previously observed structural correlations also hold within each age group - including relationships between solvent accessibility, designabililty, and evolutionary rates. However, age also plays a crucial role: age modulates the relationship between solvent accessibility and rate. Additionally, younger proteins, despite being less designable, tend to evolve faster than older proteins. We show that previously reported relationships between age and rate cannot be explained by structural biases among age groups. Finally, we introduce a knowledge-based potential function to study the stability of proteins through large-scale computation. We find that older proteins are more stable for their native structure, and more robust to mutations, than younger ones. Our results underscore that several determinants, both intrinsic and historical, can interact to determine rates of protein evolution. |
2011 |
Toll-Riera, Macarena, Laurie, Steve, Albà, M Mar Lineage-specific variation in intensity of natural selection in mammals. (Article) Molecular biology and evolution, 28 (1), pp. 383–98, 2011, ISSN: 1537-1719. (Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Amino Acid Sequence, Amino Acid Substitution, Animals, Evolution, F-Box Proteins, F-Box Proteins: genetics, G-Protein-Coupled, G-Protein-Coupled: genetics, Genetic, Genetic Variation, Humans, Mammals, Mammals: genetics, Molecular, Molecular Sequence Data, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate: genetics, Odorant, Odorant: genetics, Receptors, Selection, Sequence Alignment) @article{Toll-Riera2011a, title = {Lineage-specific variation in intensity of natural selection in mammals.}, author = {Toll-Riera, Macarena and Laurie, Steve and Albà, M Mar}, url = {http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20688808}, issn = {1537-1719}, year = {2011}, date = {2011-01-01}, journal = {Molecular biology and evolution}, volume = {28}, number = {1}, pages = {383--98}, abstract = {The molecular clock hypothesis states that protein-coding genes evolve at an approximately constant rate. However, this is only expected to be true as long as the function and the tertiary structure of the molecule remain unaltered. An important implication of this statement is that significant deviations in the rate of evolution of a gene with respect to the species clock are likely to reflect functional and/or structural alterations. Here, we present a method to identify such deviations and apply it to a data set of 2,929 high-quality coding sequence alignments corresponding to one-to-one orthologous genes from six mammalian species--human, macaque, mouse, rat, cow, and dog. Deviated branches are defined as those that present significant alterations in both the rate of nonsynonymous substitutions (dN) and the selective pressure (dN/dS). Strikingly, we find that as many as 24.5% of the genes show branch-specific deviations in dN and dN/dS, though this is a relatively well-conserved set of genes. Around half of these genes show branch-specific acceleration of evolutionary rates. Positive selection (PS) tests based on divergence data only identify 17.7% of the accelerated branches. Failure to identify PS in accelerated branches with an excess of radical amino acid replacements suggests that these tests are conservative. Interestingly, genes with accelerated branches are significantly enriched in neural proteins, indicating that this type of protein might play a more important role than previously thought in species diversification, although they are generally not detected by PS tests. We discuss in detail several examples of genes that show lineage-specific evolutionary rate acceleration and are involved in synaptic transmission, chemosensory perception, and ubiquitination.}, keywords = {Amino Acid Sequence, Amino Acid Substitution, Animals, Evolution, F-Box Proteins, F-Box Proteins: genetics, G-Protein-Coupled, G-Protein-Coupled: genetics, Genetic, Genetic Variation, Humans, Mammals, Mammals: genetics, Molecular, Molecular Sequence Data, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate: genetics, Odorant, Odorant: genetics, Receptors, Selection, Sequence Alignment} } The molecular clock hypothesis states that protein-coding genes evolve at an approximately constant rate. However, this is only expected to be true as long as the function and the tertiary structure of the molecule remain unaltered. An important implication of this statement is that significant deviations in the rate of evolution of a gene with respect to the species clock are likely to reflect functional and/or structural alterations. Here, we present a method to identify such deviations and apply it to a data set of 2,929 high-quality coding sequence alignments corresponding to one-to-one orthologous genes from six mammalian species--human, macaque, mouse, rat, cow, and dog. Deviated branches are defined as those that present significant alterations in both the rate of nonsynonymous substitutions (dN) and the selective pressure (dN/dS). Strikingly, we find that as many as 24.5% of the genes show branch-specific deviations in dN and dN/dS, though this is a relatively well-conserved set of genes. Around half of these genes show branch-specific acceleration of evolutionary rates. Positive selection (PS) tests based on divergence data only identify 17.7% of the accelerated branches. Failure to identify PS in accelerated branches with an excess of radical amino acid replacements suggests that these tests are conservative. Interestingly, genes with accelerated branches are significantly enriched in neural proteins, indicating that this type of protein might play a more important role than previously thought in species diversification, although they are generally not detected by PS tests. We discuss in detail several examples of genes that show lineage-specific evolutionary rate acceleration and are involved in synaptic transmission, chemosensory perception, and ubiquitination. |
2010 |
Mularoni, Loris, Ledda, Alice, Toll-Riera, Macarena, Albà, M Mar Natural selection drives the accumulation of amino acid tandem repeats in human proteins. (Article) Genome research, 20 (6), pp. 745–54, 2010, ISSN: 1549-5469. (Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Amino Acid, Amino Acid Sequence, Amino Acids, Amino Acids: chemistry, Amino Acids: genetics, Animals, Genetic, Humans, Molecular Sequence Data, Proteins, Proteins: chemistry, Proteins: genetics, Repetitive Sequences, Selection, Sequence Homology) @article{Mularoni2010, title = {Natural selection drives the accumulation of amino acid tandem repeats in human proteins.}, author = {Mularoni, Loris and Ledda, Alice and Toll-Riera, Macarena and Albà, M Mar}, url = {http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=2877571&tool=pmcentrez&rendertype=abstract}, issn = {1549-5469}, year = {2010}, date = {2010-01-01}, journal = {Genome research}, volume = {20}, number = {6}, pages = {745--54}, abstract = {Amino acid tandem repeats are found in a large number of eukaryotic proteins. They are often encoded by trinucleotide repeats and exhibit high intra- and interspecies size variability due to the high mutation rate associated with replication slippage. The extent to which natural selection is important in shaping amino acid repeat evolution is a matter of debate. On one hand, their high frequency may simply reflect their high probability of expansion by slippage, and they could essentially evolve in a neutral manner. On the other hand, there is experimental evidence that changes in repeat size can influence protein-protein interactions, transcriptional activity, or protein subcellular localization, indicating that repeats could be functionally relevant and thus shaped by selection. To gauge the relative contribution of neutral and selective forces in amino acid repeat evolution, we have performed a comparative analysis of amino acid repeat conservation in a large set of orthologous proteins from 12 vertebrate species. As a neutral model of repeat evolution we have used sequences with the same DNA triplet composition as the coding sequences--and thus expected to be subject to the same mutational forces--but located in syntenic noncoding genomic regions. The results strongly indicate that selection has played a more important role than previously suspected in amino acid tandem repeat evolution, by increasing the repeat retention rate and by modulating repeat size. The data obtained in this study have allowed us to identify a set of 92 repeats that are postulated to play important functional roles due to their strong selective signature, including five cases with direct experimental evidence.}, keywords = {Amino Acid, Amino Acid Sequence, Amino Acids, Amino Acids: chemistry, Amino Acids: genetics, Animals, Genetic, Humans, Molecular Sequence Data, Proteins, Proteins: chemistry, Proteins: genetics, Repetitive Sequences, Selection, Sequence Homology} } Amino acid tandem repeats are found in a large number of eukaryotic proteins. They are often encoded by trinucleotide repeats and exhibit high intra- and interspecies size variability due to the high mutation rate associated with replication slippage. The extent to which natural selection is important in shaping amino acid repeat evolution is a matter of debate. On one hand, their high frequency may simply reflect their high probability of expansion by slippage, and they could essentially evolve in a neutral manner. On the other hand, there is experimental evidence that changes in repeat size can influence protein-protein interactions, transcriptional activity, or protein subcellular localization, indicating that repeats could be functionally relevant and thus shaped by selection. To gauge the relative contribution of neutral and selective forces in amino acid repeat evolution, we have performed a comparative analysis of amino acid repeat conservation in a large set of orthologous proteins from 12 vertebrate species. As a neutral model of repeat evolution we have used sequences with the same DNA triplet composition as the coding sequences--and thus expected to be subject to the same mutational forces--but located in syntenic noncoding genomic regions. The results strongly indicate that selection has played a more important role than previously suspected in amino acid tandem repeat evolution, by increasing the repeat retention rate and by modulating repeat size. The data obtained in this study have allowed us to identify a set of 92 repeats that are postulated to play important functional roles due to their strong selective signature, including five cases with direct experimental evidence. |
Farré, Domènec, Albà, M Mar Heterogeneous patterns of gene-expression diversification in mammalian gene duplicates. (Article) Molecular biology and evolution, 27 (2), pp. 325–35, 2010, ISSN: 1537-1719. (Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Animals, Evolution, Gene Duplication, Genetic, Humans, Mammals, Mammals: genetics, Models, Molecular) @article{Farre2010, title = {Heterogeneous patterns of gene-expression diversification in mammalian gene duplicates.}, author = {Farré, Domènec and Albà, M Mar}, url = {http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19822635}, issn = {1537-1719}, year = {2010}, date = {2010-01-01}, journal = {Molecular biology and evolution}, volume = {27}, number = {2}, pages = {325--35}, abstract = {Gene duplication is a major mechanism for molecular evolutionary innovation. Young gene duplicates typically exhibit elevated rates of protein evolution and, according to a number of recent studies, increased expression divergence. However, the nature of these changes is still poorly understood. To gain novel insights into the functional consequences of gene duplication, we have undertaken an in-depth analysis of a large data set of gene families containing primate- and/or rodent-specific gene duplicates. We have found a clear tendency toward an increase in protein, promoter, and expression divergence with increasing number of duplication events undergone by each gene since the human-mouse split. In addition, gene duplication is significantly associated with a reduction in expression breadth and intensity. Interestingly, it is possible to identify three main groups regarding the evolution of gene expression following gene duplication. The first group, which comprises around 25% of the families, shows patterns compatible with tissue-expression partitioning. The second and largest group, comprising 33-53% of the families, shows broad expression of one of the gene copies and reduced, overlapping, expression of the other copy or copies. This can be attributed, in most cases, to loss of expression in several tissues of one or more gene copies. Finally, a substantial number of families, 19-35%, maintain a very high level of tissue-expression overlap (>0.8) after tens of millions of years of evolution. These families may have been subject to selection for increased gene dosage.}, keywords = {Animals, Evolution, Gene Duplication, Genetic, Humans, Mammals, Mammals: genetics, Models, Molecular} } Gene duplication is a major mechanism for molecular evolutionary innovation. Young gene duplicates typically exhibit elevated rates of protein evolution and, according to a number of recent studies, increased expression divergence. However, the nature of these changes is still poorly understood. To gain novel insights into the functional consequences of gene duplication, we have undertaken an in-depth analysis of a large data set of gene families containing primate- and/or rodent-specific gene duplicates. We have found a clear tendency toward an increase in protein, promoter, and expression divergence with increasing number of duplication events undergone by each gene since the human-mouse split. In addition, gene duplication is significantly associated with a reduction in expression breadth and intensity. Interestingly, it is possible to identify three main groups regarding the evolution of gene expression following gene duplication. The first group, which comprises around 25% of the families, shows patterns compatible with tissue-expression partitioning. The second and largest group, comprising 33-53% of the families, shows broad expression of one of the gene copies and reduced, overlapping, expression of the other copy or copies. This can be attributed, in most cases, to loss of expression in several tissues of one or more gene copies. Finally, a substantial number of families, 19-35%, maintain a very high level of tissue-expression overlap (>0.8) after tens of millions of years of evolution. These families may have been subject to selection for increased gene dosage. |
2009 |
Toll-Riera, Macarena, Castelo, Robert, Bellora, Nicolás, Albà, M Mar Evolution of primate orphan proteins. (Article) Biochemical Society transactions, 37 (Pt 4), pp. 778–82, 2009, ISSN: 1470-8752. (Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Animals, Evolution, Gene Duplication, Genome, Genome: genetics, Molecular, Primates, Primates: genetics, Proteins, Proteins: genetics) @article{Toll-Riera2009, title = {Evolution of primate orphan proteins.}, author = {Toll-Riera, Macarena and Castelo, Robert and Bellora, Nicolás and Albà, M Mar}, url = {http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19614593}, issn = {1470-8752}, year = {2009}, date = {2009-01-01}, journal = {Biochemical Society transactions}, volume = {37}, number = {Pt 4}, pages = {778--82}, abstract = {Genomes contain a large number of genes that do not have recognizable homologues in other species. These genes, found in only one or a few closely related species, are known as orphan genes. Their limited distribution implies that many of them are probably involved in lineage-specific adaptive processes. One important question that has remained elusive to date is how orphan genes originate. It has been proposed that they might have arisen by gene duplication followed by a period of very rapid sequence divergence, which would have erased any traces of similarity to other evolutionarily related genes. However, this explanation does not seem plausible for genes lacking homologues in very closely related species. In the present article, we review recent efforts to identify the mechanisms of formation of primate orphan genes. These studies reveal an unexpected important role of transposable elements in the formation of novel protein-coding genes in the genomes of primates.}, keywords = {Animals, Evolution, Gene Duplication, Genome, Genome: genetics, Molecular, Primates, Primates: genetics, Proteins, Proteins: genetics} } Genomes contain a large number of genes that do not have recognizable homologues in other species. These genes, found in only one or a few closely related species, are known as orphan genes. Their limited distribution implies that many of them are probably involved in lineage-specific adaptive processes. One important question that has remained elusive to date is how orphan genes originate. It has been proposed that they might have arisen by gene duplication followed by a period of very rapid sequence divergence, which would have erased any traces of similarity to other evolutionarily related genes. However, this explanation does not seem plausible for genes lacking homologues in very closely related species. In the present article, we review recent efforts to identify the mechanisms of formation of primate orphan genes. These studies reveal an unexpected important role of transposable elements in the formation of novel protein-coding genes in the genomes of primates. |
Rodilla, Verónica, Villanueva, Alberto, Obrador-Hevia, Antonia, Robert-Moreno, Alex, Fernández-Majada, Vanessa, Grilli, Andrea, López-Bigas, Nuria, Bellora, Nicolás, Albà, M Mar, Torres, Ferran, Duñach, Mireia, Sanjuan, Xavier, Gonzalez, Sara, Gridley, Thomas, Capella, Gabriel, Bigas, Anna, Espinosa, Lluís Jagged1 is the pathological link between Wnt and Notch pathways in colorectal cancer. (Article) Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 106 (15), pp. 6315–20, 2009, ISSN: 1091-6490. (Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Alleles, Animals, beta Catenin, beta Catenin: metabolism, Calcium-Binding Proteins, Calcium-Binding Proteins: genetics, Calcium-Binding Proteins: metabolism, Cell Line, Cell Nucleus, Cell Nucleus: metabolism, Colorectal Neoplasms, Colorectal Neoplasms: blood supply, Colorectal Neoplasms: genetics, Colorectal Neoplasms: metabolism, Colorectal Neoplasms: pathology, Gene Expression Profiling, Gene Expression Regulation, Genetic, Genetic: genetics, Humans, Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins, Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins: gen, Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins: met, Membrane Proteins, Membrane Proteins: genetics, Membrane Proteins: metabolism, Mice, Neoplastic, Notch, Notch: metabolism, Receptors, Signal Transduction, TCF Transcription Factors, TCF Transcription Factors: metabolism, Transcription, Transgenic, Wnt Proteins, Wnt Proteins: metabolism) @article{Rodilla2009, title = {Jagged1 is the pathological link between Wnt and Notch pathways in colorectal cancer.}, author = {Rodilla, Verónica and Villanueva, Alberto and Obrador-Hevia, Antonia and Robert-Moreno, Alex and Fernández-Majada, Vanessa and Grilli, Andrea and López-Bigas, Nuria and Bellora, Nicolás and Albà, M Mar and Torres, Ferran and Duñach, Mireia and Sanjuan, Xavier and Gonzalez, Sara and Gridley, Thomas and Capella, Gabriel and Bigas, Anna and Espinosa, Lluís}, url = {http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=2669348&tool=pmcentrez&rendertype=abstract}, issn = {1091-6490}, year = {2009}, date = {2009-01-01}, journal = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America}, volume = {106}, number = {15}, pages = {6315--20}, abstract = {Notch has been linked to beta-catenin-dependent tumorigenesis; however, the mechanisms leading to Notch activation and the contribution of the Notch pathway to colorectal cancer is not yet understood. By microarray analysis, we have identified a group of genes downstream of Wnt/beta-catenin (down-regulated when blocking Wnt/beta-catenin) that are directly regulated by Notch (repressed by gamma-secretase inhibitors and up-regulated by active Notch1 in the absence of beta-catenin signaling). We demonstrate that Notch is downstream of Wnt in colorectal cancer cells through beta-catenin-mediated transcriptional activation of the Notch-ligand Jagged1. Consistently, expression of activated Notch1 partially reverts the effects of blocking Wnt/beta-catenin pathway in tumors implanted s.c. in nude mice. Crossing APC(Min/+) with Jagged1(+/Delta) mice is sufficient to significantly reduce the size of the polyps arising in the APC mutant background indicating that Notch is an essential modulator of tumorigenesis induced by nuclear beta-catenin. We show that this mechanism is operating in human tumors from Familial Adenomatous Polyposis patients. We conclude that Notch activation, accomplished by beta-catenin-mediated up-regulation of Jagged1, is required for tumorigenesis in the intestine. The Notch-specific genetic signature is sufficient to block differentiation and promote vasculogenesis in tumors whereas proliferation depends on both pathways.}, keywords = {Alleles, Animals, beta Catenin, beta Catenin: metabolism, Calcium-Binding Proteins, Calcium-Binding Proteins: genetics, Calcium-Binding Proteins: metabolism, Cell Line, Cell Nucleus, Cell Nucleus: metabolism, Colorectal Neoplasms, Colorectal Neoplasms: blood supply, Colorectal Neoplasms: genetics, Colorectal Neoplasms: metabolism, Colorectal Neoplasms: pathology, Gene Expression Profiling, Gene Expression Regulation, Genetic, Genetic: genetics, Humans, Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins, Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins: gen, Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins: met, Membrane Proteins, Membrane Proteins: genetics, Membrane Proteins: metabolism, Mice, Neoplastic, Notch, Notch: metabolism, Receptors, Signal Transduction, TCF Transcription Factors, TCF Transcription Factors: metabolism, Transcription, Transgenic, Wnt Proteins, Wnt Proteins: metabolism} } Notch has been linked to beta-catenin-dependent tumorigenesis; however, the mechanisms leading to Notch activation and the contribution of the Notch pathway to colorectal cancer is not yet understood. By microarray analysis, we have identified a group of genes downstream of Wnt/beta-catenin (down-regulated when blocking Wnt/beta-catenin) that are directly regulated by Notch (repressed by gamma-secretase inhibitors and up-regulated by active Notch1 in the absence of beta-catenin signaling). We demonstrate that Notch is downstream of Wnt in colorectal cancer cells through beta-catenin-mediated transcriptional activation of the Notch-ligand Jagged1. Consistently, expression of activated Notch1 partially reverts the effects of blocking Wnt/beta-catenin pathway in tumors implanted s.c. in nude mice. Crossing APC(Min/+) with Jagged1(+/Delta) mice is sufficient to significantly reduce the size of the polyps arising in the APC mutant background indicating that Notch is an essential modulator of tumorigenesis induced by nuclear beta-catenin. We show that this mechanism is operating in human tumors from Familial Adenomatous Polyposis patients. We conclude that Notch activation, accomplished by beta-catenin-mediated up-regulation of Jagged1, is required for tumorigenesis in the intestine. The Notch-specific genetic signature is sufficient to block differentiation and promote vasculogenesis in tumors whereas proliferation depends on both pathways. |
2008 |
Racz, Ildiko, Nadal, Xavier, Alferink, Judith, Baños, Josep E, Rehnelt, Jennifer, Martín, Miquel, Pintado, Belén, Gutierrez-Adan, Alfonso, Sanguino, Elena, Bellora, Nicolas, Manzanares, Jorge, Zimmer, Andreas, Maldonado, Rafael The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 28 (46), pp. 12136–45, 2008, ISSN: 1529-2401. (Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Animals, Astrocytes, Astrocytes: immunology, Cannabinoid, CB2, CB2: genetics, CB2: immunology, CB2: metabolism, CCR2, CCR2: immunology, CCR2: metabolism, Cells, Cultured, Gene Knockout Techniques, Gene Knockout Techniques: methods, Hyperalgesia, Hyperalgesia: immunology, Hyperalgesia: physiopathology, Interferon-gamma, Interferon-gamma: genetics, Interferon-gamma: immunology, Interferon-gamma: metabolism, Knockout, Male, Mice, Microglia, Microglia: drug effects, Microglia: immunology, Microglia: metabolism, Neuralgia, Neuralgia: genetics, Neuralgia: immunology, Neuralgia: metabolism, Neurons, Neurons: immunology, Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II, Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II: immunology, Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II: metabolism, Peripheral Nerves, Peripheral Nerves: immunology, Peripheral Nerves: injuries, Peripheral Nerves: physiopathology, Peripheral Nervous System Diseases, Peripheral Nervous System Diseases: genetics, Peripheral Nervous System Diseases: immunology, Peripheral Nervous System Diseases: metabolism, Receptor, Receptors, Signal Transduction, Signal Transduction: genetics, Signal Transduction: immunology, Spinal Cord, Spinal Cord: immunology, Spinal Cord: metabolism, Spinal Cord: physiopathology, Up-Regulation, Up-Regulation: immunology) @article{Racz2008, title = {Interferon-gamma is a critical modulator of CB(2) cannabinoid receptor signaling during neuropathic pain.}, author = {Racz, Ildiko and Nadal, Xavier and Alferink, Judith and Baños, Josep E and Rehnelt, Jennifer and Martín, Miquel and Pintado, Belén and Gutierrez-Adan, Alfonso and Sanguino, Elena and Bellora, Nicolas and Manzanares, Jorge and Zimmer, Andreas and Maldonado, Rafael}, url = {http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19005078}, issn = {1529-2401}, year = {2008}, date = {2008-01-01}, journal = {The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience}, volume = {28}, number = {46}, pages = {12136--45}, abstract = {Nerve injuries often lead to neuropathic pain syndrome. The mechanisms contributing to this syndrome involve local inflammatory responses, activation of glia cells, and changes in the plasticity of neuronal nociceptive pathways. Cannabinoid CB(2) receptors contribute to the local containment of neuropathic pain by modulating glial activation in response to nerve injury. Thus, neuropathic pain spreads in mice lacking CB(2) receptors beyond the site of nerve injury. To further investigate the mechanisms leading to the enhanced manifestation of neuropathic pain, we have established expression profiles of spinal cord tissues from wild-type and CB(2)-deficient mice after nerve injury. An enhanced interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) response was revealed in the absence of CB(2) signaling. Immunofluorescence stainings demonstrated an IFN-gamma production by astrocytes and neurons ispilateral to the nerve injury in wild-type animals. In contrast, CB(2)-deficient mice showed neuronal and astrocytic IFN-gamma immunoreactivity also in the contralateral region, thus matching the pattern of nociceptive hypersensitivity in these animals. Experiments in BV-2 microglia cells revealed that transcriptional changes induced by IFN-gamma in two key elements for neuropathic pain development, iNOS (inducible nitric oxide synthase) and CCR2, are modulated by CB(2) receptor signaling. The most direct support for a functional involvement of IFN-gamma as a mediator of CB(2) signaling was obtained with a double knock-out mouse strain deficient in CB(2) receptors and IFN-gamma. These animals no longer show the enhanced manifestations of neuropathic pain observed in CB(2) knock-outs. These data clearly demonstrate that the CB(2) receptor-mediated control of neuropathic pain is IFN-gamma dependent.}, keywords = {Animals, Astrocytes, Astrocytes: immunology, Cannabinoid, CB2, CB2: genetics, CB2: immunology, CB2: metabolism, CCR2, CCR2: immunology, CCR2: metabolism, Cells, Cultured, Gene Knockout Techniques, Gene Knockout Techniques: methods, Hyperalgesia, Hyperalgesia: immunology, Hyperalgesia: physiopathology, Interferon-gamma, Interferon-gamma: genetics, Interferon-gamma: immunology, Interferon-gamma: metabolism, Knockout, Male, Mice, Microglia, Microglia: drug effects, Microglia: immunology, Microglia: metabolism, Neuralgia, Neuralgia: genetics, Neuralgia: immunology, Neuralgia: metabolism, Neurons, Neurons: immunology, Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II, Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II: immunology, Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II: metabolism, Peripheral Nerves, Peripheral Nerves: immunology, Peripheral Nerves: injuries, Peripheral Nerves: physiopathology, Peripheral Nervous System Diseases, Peripheral Nervous System Diseases: genetics, Peripheral Nervous System Diseases: immunology, Peripheral Nervous System Diseases: metabolism, Receptor, Receptors, Signal Transduction, Signal Transduction: genetics, Signal Transduction: immunology, Spinal Cord, Spinal Cord: immunology, Spinal Cord: metabolism, Spinal Cord: physiopathology, Up-Regulation, Up-Regulation: immunology} } Nerve injuries often lead to neuropathic pain syndrome. The mechanisms contributing to this syndrome involve local inflammatory responses, activation of glia cells, and changes in the plasticity of neuronal nociceptive pathways. Cannabinoid CB(2) receptors contribute to the local containment of neuropathic pain by modulating glial activation in response to nerve injury. Thus, neuropathic pain spreads in mice lacking CB(2) receptors beyond the site of nerve injury. To further investigate the mechanisms leading to the enhanced manifestation of neuropathic pain, we have established expression profiles of spinal cord tissues from wild-type and CB(2)-deficient mice after nerve injury. An enhanced interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) response was revealed in the absence of CB(2) signaling. Immunofluorescence stainings demonstrated an IFN-gamma production by astrocytes and neurons ispilateral to the nerve injury in wild-type animals. In contrast, CB(2)-deficient mice showed neuronal and astrocytic IFN-gamma immunoreactivity also in the contralateral region, thus matching the pattern of nociceptive hypersensitivity in these animals. Experiments in BV-2 microglia cells revealed that transcriptional changes induced by IFN-gamma in two key elements for neuropathic pain development, iNOS (inducible nitric oxide synthase) and CCR2, are modulated by CB(2) receptor signaling. The most direct support for a functional involvement of IFN-gamma as a mediator of CB(2) signaling was obtained with a double knock-out mouse strain deficient in CB(2) receptors and IFN-gamma. These animals no longer show the enhanced manifestations of neuropathic pain observed in CB(2) knock-outs. These data clearly demonstrate that the CB(2) receptor-mediated control of neuropathic pain is IFN-gamma dependent. |
2007 |
Albà, M M, Tompa, P, Veitia, R A Amino acid repeats and the structure and evolution of proteins. (Article) Genome dynamics, 3 pp. 119–30, 2007, ISSN: 1660-9263. (Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Amino Acid, Animals, Base Composition, Evolution, Humans, Molecular, Open Reading Frames, Open Reading Frames: genetics, Peptides, Peptides: chemistry, Proteins, Proteins: chemistry, Proteins: genetics, Repetitive Sequences) @article{Alba2007a, title = {Amino acid repeats and the structure and evolution of proteins.}, author = {Albà, M M and Tompa, P and Veitia, R A}, url = {http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18753788}, issn = {1660-9263}, year = {2007}, date = {2007-01-01}, journal = {Genome dynamics}, volume = {3}, pages = {119--30}, abstract = {Many proteins have repeats or runs of single amino acids. The pathogenicity of some repeat expansions has fueled proteomic, genomic and structural explorations of homopolymeric runs not only in human but in a wide variety of other organisms. Other types of amino acid repetitive structures exhibit more complex patterns than homopeptides. Irrespective of their precise organization, repetitive sequences are defined as low complexity or simple sequences, as one or a few residues are particularly abundant. Prokaryotes show a relatively low frequency of simple sequences compared to eukaryotes. In the latter the percentage of proteins containing homopolymeric runs varies greatly from one group to another. For instance, within vertebrates, amino acid repeat frequency is much higher in mammals than in amphibians, birds or fishes. For some repeats, this is correlated with the GC-richness of the regions containing the corresponding genes. Homopeptides tend to occur in disordered regions of transcription factors or developmental proteins. They can trigger the formation of protein aggregates, particularly in 'disease' proteins. Simple sequences seem to evolve more rapidly than the rest of the protein/gene and may have a functional impact. Therefore, they are good candidates to promote rapid evolutionary changes. All these diverse facets of homopolymeric runs are explored in this review.}, keywords = {Amino Acid, Animals, Base Composition, Evolution, Humans, Molecular, Open Reading Frames, Open Reading Frames: genetics, Peptides, Peptides: chemistry, Proteins, Proteins: chemistry, Proteins: genetics, Repetitive Sequences} } Many proteins have repeats or runs of single amino acids. The pathogenicity of some repeat expansions has fueled proteomic, genomic and structural explorations of homopolymeric runs not only in human but in a wide variety of other organisms. Other types of amino acid repetitive structures exhibit more complex patterns than homopeptides. Irrespective of their precise organization, repetitive sequences are defined as low complexity or simple sequences, as one or a few residues are particularly abundant. Prokaryotes show a relatively low frequency of simple sequences compared to eukaryotes. In the latter the percentage of proteins containing homopolymeric runs varies greatly from one group to another. For instance, within vertebrates, amino acid repeat frequency is much higher in mammals than in amphibians, birds or fishes. For some repeats, this is correlated with the GC-richness of the regions containing the corresponding genes. Homopeptides tend to occur in disordered regions of transcription factors or developmental proteins. They can trigger the formation of protein aggregates, particularly in 'disease' proteins. Simple sequences seem to evolve more rapidly than the rest of the protein/gene and may have a functional impact. Therefore, they are good candidates to promote rapid evolutionary changes. All these diverse facets of homopolymeric runs are explored in this review. |
Farré, Domènec, Bellora, Nicolás, Mularoni, Loris, Messeguer, Xavier, Albà, M Mar Housekeeping genes tend to show reduced upstream sequence conservation. (Article) Genome biology, 8 (7), pp. R140, 2007, ISSN: 1465-6914. (Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Animals, Base Sequence, Conserved Sequence, CpG Islands, Evolution, Gene Expression, Genetic, Genetic Variation, Humans, Mice, Molecular, Molecular Sequence Data, Promoter Regions) @article{Farre2007, title = {Housekeeping genes tend to show reduced upstream sequence conservation.}, author = {Farré, Domènec and Bellora, Nicolás and Mularoni, Loris and Messeguer, Xavier and Albà, M Mar}, url = {http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=2323216&tool=pmcentrez&rendertype=abstract}, issn = {1465-6914}, year = {2007}, date = {2007-01-01}, journal = {Genome biology}, volume = {8}, number = {7}, pages = {R140}, abstract = {Understanding the constraints that operate in mammalian gene promoter sequences is of key importance to understand the evolution of gene regulatory networks. The level of promoter conservation varies greatly across orthologous genes, denoting differences in the strength of the evolutionary constraints. Here we test the hypothesis that the number of tissues in which a gene is expressed is related in a significant manner to the extent of promoter sequence conservation.}, keywords = {Animals, Base Sequence, Conserved Sequence, CpG Islands, Evolution, Gene Expression, Genetic, Genetic Variation, Humans, Mice, Molecular, Molecular Sequence Data, Promoter Regions} } Understanding the constraints that operate in mammalian gene promoter sequences is of key importance to understand the evolution of gene regulatory networks. The level of promoter conservation varies greatly across orthologous genes, denoting differences in the strength of the evolutionary constraints. Here we test the hypothesis that the number of tissues in which a gene is expressed is related in a significant manner to the extent of promoter sequence conservation. |
Mularoni, Loris, Veitia, Reiner A, Albà, M Mar Highly constrained proteins contain an unexpectedly large number of amino acid tandem repeats. (Article) Genomics, 89 (3), pp. 316–25, 2007, ISSN: 0888-7543. (Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Amino Acid, Amino Acid Sequence, Animals, Complementary, Conserved Sequence, DNA, Evolution, Genetic, Humans, Mice, Molecular, Point Mutation, Proteins, Proteins: chemistry, Proteins: genetics, Repetitive Sequences, Selection, Trinucleotide Repeats) @article{Mularoni2007, title = {Highly constrained proteins contain an unexpectedly large number of amino acid tandem repeats.}, author = {Mularoni, Loris and Veitia, Reiner A and Albà, M Mar}, url = {http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17196365}, issn = {0888-7543}, year = {2007}, date = {2007-01-01}, journal = {Genomics}, volume = {89}, number = {3}, pages = {316--25}, abstract = {Single-amino-acid tandem repeats are very common in mammalian proteins but their function and evolution are still poorly understood. Here we investigate how the variability and prevalence of amino acid repeats are related to the evolutionary constraints operating on the proteins. We find a significant positive correlation between repeat size difference and protein nonsynonymous substitution rate in human and mouse orthologous genes. This association is observed for all the common amino acid repeat types and indicates that rapid diversification of repeat structures, involving both trinucleotide slippage and nucleotide substitutions, preferentially occurs in proteins subject to low selective constraints. However, strikingly, we also observe a significant negative correlation between the number of repeats in a protein and the gene nonsynonymous substitution rate, particularly for glutamine, glycine, and alanine repeats. This implies that proteins subject to strong selective constraints tend to contain an unexpectedly high number of repeats, which tend to be well conserved between the two species. This is consistent with a role for selection in the maintenance of a significant number of repeats. Analysis of the codon structure of the sequences encoding the repeats shows that codon purity is associated with high repeat size interspecific variability. Interestingly, polyalanine and polyglutamine repeats associated with disease show very distinctive features regarding the degree of repeat conservation and the protein sequence selective constraints.}, keywords = {Amino Acid, Amino Acid Sequence, Animals, Complementary, Conserved Sequence, DNA, Evolution, Genetic, Humans, Mice, Molecular, Point Mutation, Proteins, Proteins: chemistry, Proteins: genetics, Repetitive Sequences, Selection, Trinucleotide Repeats} } Single-amino-acid tandem repeats are very common in mammalian proteins but their function and evolution are still poorly understood. Here we investigate how the variability and prevalence of amino acid repeats are related to the evolutionary constraints operating on the proteins. We find a significant positive correlation between repeat size difference and protein nonsynonymous substitution rate in human and mouse orthologous genes. This association is observed for all the common amino acid repeat types and indicates that rapid diversification of repeat structures, involving both trinucleotide slippage and nucleotide substitutions, preferentially occurs in proteins subject to low selective constraints. However, strikingly, we also observe a significant negative correlation between the number of repeats in a protein and the gene nonsynonymous substitution rate, particularly for glutamine, glycine, and alanine repeats. This implies that proteins subject to strong selective constraints tend to contain an unexpectedly high number of repeats, which tend to be well conserved between the two species. This is consistent with a role for selection in the maintenance of a significant number of repeats. Analysis of the codon structure of the sequences encoding the repeats shows that codon purity is associated with high repeat size interspecific variability. Interestingly, polyalanine and polyglutamine repeats associated with disease show very distinctive features regarding the degree of repeat conservation and the protein sequence selective constraints. |
Bellora, Nicolás, Farré, Domènec, Albà, M Mar Positional bias of general and tissue-specific regulatory motifs in mouse gene promoters. (Article) BMC genomics, 8 pp. 459, 2007, ISSN: 1471-2164. (Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Animals, Databases, Gene Expression Regulation, Gene Expression Regulation: genetics, Genetic, Genetic: genetics, Mice, Nucleic Acid, Organ Specificity, Organ Specificity: genetics, Promoter Regions, Software, Transcription Factors, Transcription Factors: metabolism) @article{Bellora2007, title = {Positional bias of general and tissue-specific regulatory motifs in mouse gene promoters.}, author = {Bellora, Nicolás and Farré, Domènec and Albà, M Mar}, url = {http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=2249607&tool=pmcentrez&rendertype=abstract}, issn = {1471-2164}, year = {2007}, date = {2007-01-01}, journal = {BMC genomics}, volume = {8}, pages = {459}, abstract = {The arrangement of regulatory motifs in gene promoters, or promoter architecture, is the result of mutation and selection processes that have operated over many millions of years. In mammals, tissue-specific transcriptional regulation is related to the presence of specific protein-interacting DNA motifs in gene promoters. However, little is known about the relative location and spacing of these motifs. To fill this gap, we have performed a systematic search for motifs that show significant bias at specific promoter locations in a large collection of housekeeping and tissue-specific genes.}, keywords = {Animals, Databases, Gene Expression Regulation, Gene Expression Regulation: genetics, Genetic, Genetic: genetics, Mice, Nucleic Acid, Organ Specificity, Organ Specificity: genetics, Promoter Regions, Software, Transcription Factors, Transcription Factors: metabolism} } The arrangement of regulatory motifs in gene promoters, or promoter architecture, is the result of mutation and selection processes that have operated over many millions of years. In mammals, tissue-specific transcriptional regulation is related to the presence of specific protein-interacting DNA motifs in gene promoters. However, little is known about the relative location and spacing of these motifs. To fill this gap, we have performed a systematic search for motifs that show significant bias at specific promoter locations in a large collection of housekeeping and tissue-specific genes. |
Albà, M Mar, Castresana, Jose On homology searches by protein Blast and the characterization of the age of genes. (Article) BMC evolutionary biology, 7 pp. 53, 2007, ISSN: 1471-2148. (Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Amino Acid, Animals, Computational Biology, Databases, Evolution, Genes, Humans, Molecular, Phylogeny, Protein, Sequence Analysis, Sequence Homology) @article{Alba2007, title = {On homology searches by protein Blast and the characterization of the age of genes.}, author = {Albà, M Mar and Castresana, Jose}, url = {http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1855329&tool=pmcentrez&rendertype=abstract}, issn = {1471-2148}, year = {2007}, date = {2007-01-01}, journal = {BMC evolutionary biology}, volume = {7}, pages = {53}, abstract = {It has been shown in a variety of organisms, including mammals, that genes that appeared recently in evolution, for example orphan genes, evolve faster than older genes. Low functional constraints at the time of origin of novel genes may explain these results. However, this observation has been recently attributed to an artifact caused by the inability of Blast to detect the fastest genes in different eukaryotic genomes. Distinguishing between these two possible explanations would be of great importance for any studies dealing with the taxon distribution of proteins and the origin of novel genes.}, keywords = {Amino Acid, Animals, Computational Biology, Databases, Evolution, Genes, Humans, Molecular, Phylogeny, Protein, Sequence Analysis, Sequence Homology} } It has been shown in a variety of organisms, including mammals, that genes that appeared recently in evolution, for example orphan genes, evolve faster than older genes. Low functional constraints at the time of origin of novel genes may explain these results. However, this observation has been recently attributed to an artifact caused by the inability of Blast to detect the fastest genes in different eukaryotic genomes. Distinguishing between these two possible explanations would be of great importance for any studies dealing with the taxon distribution of proteins and the origin of novel genes. |
2006 |
Furney, Simon J, Albà, M Mar, López-Bigas, Núria BMC genomics, 7 pp. 165, 2006, ISSN: 1471-2164. (Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Amino Acid, Animals, Caenorhabditis elegans, Caenorhabditis elegans: genetics, Computational Biology, Conserved Sequence, Dominant, Essential, Evolution, Genes, Genetic, Genetic Diseases, Genetic Structures, Humans, Inborn, Inborn: classification, Inborn: genetics, Mice, Molecular, Mutation, Pan troglodytes, Pan troglodytes: genetics, Recessive, Selection, Sequence Homology) @article{Furney2006, title = {Differences in the evolutionary history of disease genes affected by dominant or recessive mutations.}, author = {Furney, Simon J and Albà, M Mar and López-Bigas, Núria}, url = {http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1534034&tool=pmcentrez&rendertype=abstract}, issn = {1471-2164}, year = {2006}, date = {2006-01-01}, journal = {BMC genomics}, volume = {7}, pages = {165}, abstract = {Global analyses of human disease genes by computational methods have yielded important advances in the understanding of human diseases. Generally these studies have treated the group of disease genes uniformly, thus ignoring the type of disease-causing mutations (dominant or recessive). In this report we present a comprehensive study of the evolutionary history of autosomal disease genes separated by mode of inheritance.}, keywords = {Amino Acid, Animals, Caenorhabditis elegans, Caenorhabditis elegans: genetics, Computational Biology, Conserved Sequence, Dominant, Essential, Evolution, Genes, Genetic, Genetic Diseases, Genetic Structures, Humans, Inborn, Inborn: classification, Inborn: genetics, Mice, Molecular, Mutation, Pan troglodytes, Pan troglodytes: genetics, Recessive, Selection, Sequence Homology} } Global analyses of human disease genes by computational methods have yielded important advances in the understanding of human diseases. Generally these studies have treated the group of disease genes uniformly, thus ignoring the type of disease-causing mutations (dominant or recessive). In this report we present a comprehensive study of the evolutionary history of autosomal disease genes separated by mode of inheritance. |
Blanco, Enrique, Farré, Domènec, Albà, M Mar, Messeguer, Xavier, Guigó, Roderic ABS: a database of Annotated regulatory Binding Sites from orthologous promoters. (Article) Nucleic acids research, 34 (Database issue), pp. D63–7, 2006, ISSN: 1362-4962. (Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Animals, Binding Sites, Chickens, Chickens: genetics, Databases, Genetic, Genomics, Humans, Internet, Mice, Nucleic Acid, Promoter Regions, Rats, Transcription Factors, Transcription Factors: metabolism, User-Computer Interface) @article{Blanco2006, title = {ABS: a database of Annotated regulatory Binding Sites from orthologous promoters.}, author = {Blanco, Enrique and Farré, Domènec and Albà, M Mar and Messeguer, Xavier and Guigó, Roderic}, url = {http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1347478&tool=pmcentrez&rendertype=abstract}, issn = {1362-4962}, year = {2006}, date = {2006-01-01}, journal = {Nucleic acids research}, volume = {34}, number = {Database issue}, pages = {D63--7}, abstract = {Information about the genomic coordinates and the sequence of experimentally identified transcription factor binding sites is found scattered under a variety of diverse formats. The availability of standard collections of such high-quality data is important to design, evaluate and improve novel computational approaches to identify binding motifs on promoter sequences from related genes. ABS (http://genome.imim.es/datasets/abs2005/index.html) is a public database of known binding sites identified in promoters of orthologous vertebrate genes that have been manually curated from bibliography. We have annotated 650 experimental binding sites from 68 transcription factors and 100 orthologous target genes in human, mouse, rat or chicken genome sequences. Computational predictions and promoter alignment information are also provided for each entry. A simple and easy-to-use web interface facilitates data retrieval allowing different views of the information. In addition, the release 1.0 of ABS includes a customizable generator of artificial datasets based on the known sites contained in the collection and an evaluation tool to aid during the training and the assessment of motif-finding programs.}, keywords = {Animals, Binding Sites, Chickens, Chickens: genetics, Databases, Genetic, Genomics, Humans, Internet, Mice, Nucleic Acid, Promoter Regions, Rats, Transcription Factors, Transcription Factors: metabolism, User-Computer Interface} } Information about the genomic coordinates and the sequence of experimentally identified transcription factor binding sites is found scattered under a variety of diverse formats. The availability of standard collections of such high-quality data is important to design, evaluate and improve novel computational approaches to identify binding motifs on promoter sequences from related genes. ABS (http://genome.imim.es/datasets/abs2005/index.html) is a public database of known binding sites identified in promoters of orthologous vertebrate genes that have been manually curated from bibliography. We have annotated 650 experimental binding sites from 68 transcription factors and 100 orthologous target genes in human, mouse, rat or chicken genome sequences. Computational predictions and promoter alignment information are also provided for each entry. A simple and easy-to-use web interface facilitates data retrieval allowing different views of the information. In addition, the release 1.0 of ABS includes a customizable generator of artificial datasets based on the known sites contained in the collection and an evaluation tool to aid during the training and the assessment of motif-finding programs. |
2005 |
Albà, M Mar, Castresana, Jose Inverse relationship between evolutionary rate and age of mammalian genes. (Article) Molecular biology and evolution, 22 (3), pp. 598–606, 2005, ISSN: 0737-4038. (Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Animals, DNA, Evolution, Genome, human, Humans, Mice, Molecular, Sequence Analysis) @article{Alba2005, title = {Inverse relationship between evolutionary rate and age of mammalian genes.}, author = {Albà, M Mar and Castresana, Jose}, url = {http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15537804}, issn = {0737-4038}, year = {2005}, date = {2005-01-01}, journal = {Molecular biology and evolution}, volume = {22}, number = {3}, pages = {598--606}, abstract = {A large number of genes is shared by all living organisms, whereas many others are unique to some specific lineages, indicating their different times of origin. The availability of a growing number of eukaryotic genomes allows us to estimate which mammalian genes are novel genes and, approximately, when they arose. In this article, we classify human genes into four different age groups and estimate evolutionary rates in human and mouse orthologs. We show that older genes tend to evolve more slowly than newer ones; that is, proteins that arose earlier in evolution currently have a larger proportion of sites subjected to negative selection. Interestingly, this property is maintained when a fraction of the fastest-evolving genes is excluded or when only genes belonging to a given functional class are considered. One way to explain this relationship is by assuming that genes maintain their functional constraints along all their evolutionary history, but the nature of more recent evolutionary innovations is such that the functional constraints operating on them are increasingly weaker. Alternatively, our results would also be consistent with a scenario in which the functional constraints acting on a gene would not need to be constant through evolution. Instead, starting from weak functional constraints near the time of origin of a gene-as supported by mechanisms proposed for the origin of orphan genes-there would be a gradual increase in selective pressures with time, resulting in fewer accepted mutations in older versus more novel genes.}, keywords = {Animals, DNA, Evolution, Genome, human, Humans, Mice, Molecular, Sequence Analysis} } A large number of genes is shared by all living organisms, whereas many others are unique to some specific lineages, indicating their different times of origin. The availability of a growing number of eukaryotic genomes allows us to estimate which mammalian genes are novel genes and, approximately, when they arose. In this article, we classify human genes into four different age groups and estimate evolutionary rates in human and mouse orthologs. We show that older genes tend to evolve more slowly than newer ones; that is, proteins that arose earlier in evolution currently have a larger proportion of sites subjected to negative selection. Interestingly, this property is maintained when a fraction of the fastest-evolving genes is excluded or when only genes belonging to a given functional class are considered. One way to explain this relationship is by assuming that genes maintain their functional constraints along all their evolutionary history, but the nature of more recent evolutionary innovations is such that the functional constraints operating on them are increasingly weaker. Alternatively, our results would also be consistent with a scenario in which the functional constraints acting on a gene would not need to be constant through evolution. Instead, starting from weak functional constraints near the time of origin of a gene-as supported by mechanisms proposed for the origin of orphan genes-there would be a gradual increase in selective pressures with time, resulting in fewer accepted mutations in older versus more novel genes. |
2004 |
Albà, M Mar, Guigó, Roderic Comparative analysis of amino acid repeats in rodents and humans. (Article) Genome research, 14 (4), pp. 549–54, 2004, ISSN: 1088-9051. (Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Amino Acid, Amino Acid: genetics, Amino Acid: physiology, Animals, Chromosome Mapping, Chromosome Mapping: methods, Chromosome Mapping: statistics & numerical data, Computational Biology, Computational Biology: methods, Computational Biology: statistics & numerical data, GC Rich Sequence, GC Rich Sequence: genetics, Humans, Mice, Proteins, Proteins: chemistry, Proteins: genetics, Proteins: physiology, Rats, Repetitive Sequences, Trinucleotide Repeats, Trinucleotide Repeats: genetics) @article{Alba2004, title = {Comparative analysis of amino acid repeats in rodents and humans.}, author = {Albà, M Mar and Guigó, Roderic}, url = {http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=383298&tool=pmcentrez&rendertype=abstract}, issn = {1088-9051}, year = {2004}, date = {2004-01-01}, journal = {Genome research}, volume = {14}, number = {4}, pages = {549--54}, abstract = {Amino acid tandem repeats, also called homopolymeric tracts, are extremely abundant in eukaryotic proteins. To gain insight into the genome-wide evolution of these regions in mammals, we analyzed the repeat content in a large data set of rat-mouse-human orthologs. Our results show that human proteins contain more amino acid repeats than rodent proteins and that trinucleotide repeats are also more abundant in human coding sequences. Using the human species as an outgroup, we were able to address differences in repeat loss and repeat gain in the rat and mouse lineages. In this data set, mouse proteins contain substantially more repeats than rat proteins, which can be at least partly attributed to a higher repeat loss in the rat lineage. The data are consistent with a role for trinucleotide slippage in the generation of novel amino acid repeats. We confirm the previously observed functional bias of proteins with repeats, with overrepresentation of transcription factors and DNA-binding proteins. We show that genes encoding amino acid repeats tend to have an unusually high GC content, and that differences in coding GC content among orthologs are directly related to the presence/absence of repeats. We propose that the different GC content isochore structure in rodents and humans may result in an increased amino acid repeat prevalence in the human lineage.}, keywords = {Amino Acid, Amino Acid: genetics, Amino Acid: physiology, Animals, Chromosome Mapping, Chromosome Mapping: methods, Chromosome Mapping: statistics & numerical data, Computational Biology, Computational Biology: methods, Computational Biology: statistics & numerical data, GC Rich Sequence, GC Rich Sequence: genetics, Humans, Mice, Proteins, Proteins: chemistry, Proteins: genetics, Proteins: physiology, Rats, Repetitive Sequences, Trinucleotide Repeats, Trinucleotide Repeats: genetics} } Amino acid tandem repeats, also called homopolymeric tracts, are extremely abundant in eukaryotic proteins. To gain insight into the genome-wide evolution of these regions in mammals, we analyzed the repeat content in a large data set of rat-mouse-human orthologs. Our results show that human proteins contain more amino acid repeats than rodent proteins and that trinucleotide repeats are also more abundant in human coding sequences. Using the human species as an outgroup, we were able to address differences in repeat loss and repeat gain in the rat and mouse lineages. In this data set, mouse proteins contain substantially more repeats than rat proteins, which can be at least partly attributed to a higher repeat loss in the rat lineage. The data are consistent with a role for trinucleotide slippage in the generation of novel amino acid repeats. We confirm the previously observed functional bias of proteins with repeats, with overrepresentation of transcription factors and DNA-binding proteins. We show that genes encoding amino acid repeats tend to have an unusually high GC content, and that differences in coding GC content among orthologs are directly related to the presence/absence of repeats. We propose that the different GC content isochore structure in rodents and humans may result in an increased amino acid repeat prevalence in the human lineage. |
Huang, Hui, Winter, Eitan E, Wang, Huajun, Weinstock, Keith G, Xing, Heming, Goodstadt, Leo, Stenson, Peter D, Cooper, David N, Smith, Douglas, Albà, M Mar, Ponting, Chris P, Fechtel, Kim Genome biology, 5 (7), pp. R47, 2004, ISSN: 1465-6914. (Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Amino Acid, Amino Acid: genetics, Animal, Animals, Chromosome Mapping, Chromosome Mapping: methods, Conserved Sequence, Conserved Sequence: genetics, Disease Models, Evolution, Fishes, Fishes: genetics, Fungal, Fungal: genetics, Genes, Genes: genetics, Genes: physiology, Genetic, Genetic Diseases, Genome, Helminth, Helminth: genetics, human, Humans, Inborn, Inborn: genetics, Inborn: physiopathology, Insect, Insect: genetics, Mice, Molecular, Mutagenesis, Mutagenesis: genetics, Nucleic Acid, Nucleotides, Nucleotides: genetics, Point Mutation, Point Mutation: genetics, Rats, Repetitive Sequences, Selection, Sequence Homology, Trinucleotide Repeat Expansion, Trinucleotide Repeat Expansion: genetics) @article{Huang2004, title = {Evolutionary conservation and selection of human disease gene orthologs in the rat and mouse genomes.}, author = {Huang, Hui and Winter, Eitan E and Wang, Huajun and Weinstock, Keith G and Xing, Heming and Goodstadt, Leo and Stenson, Peter D and Cooper, David N and Smith, Douglas and Albà, M Mar and Ponting, Chris P and Fechtel, Kim}, url = {http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=463309&tool=pmcentrez&rendertype=abstract}, issn = {1465-6914}, year = {2004}, date = {2004-01-01}, journal = {Genome biology}, volume = {5}, number = {7}, pages = {R47}, abstract = {Model organisms have contributed substantially to our understanding of the etiology of human disease as well as having assisted with the development of new treatment modalities. The availability of the human, mouse and, most recently, the rat genome sequences now permit the comprehensive investigation of the rodent orthologs of genes associated with human disease. Here, we investigate whether human disease genes differ significantly from their rodent orthologs with respect to their overall levels of conservation and their rates of evolutionary change.}, keywords = {Amino Acid, Amino Acid: genetics, Animal, Animals, Chromosome Mapping, Chromosome Mapping: methods, Conserved Sequence, Conserved Sequence: genetics, Disease Models, Evolution, Fishes, Fishes: genetics, Fungal, Fungal: genetics, Genes, Genes: genetics, Genes: physiology, Genetic, Genetic Diseases, Genome, Helminth, Helminth: genetics, human, Humans, Inborn, Inborn: genetics, Inborn: physiopathology, Insect, Insect: genetics, Mice, Molecular, Mutagenesis, Mutagenesis: genetics, Nucleic Acid, Nucleotides, Nucleotides: genetics, Point Mutation, Point Mutation: genetics, Rats, Repetitive Sequences, Selection, Sequence Homology, Trinucleotide Repeat Expansion, Trinucleotide Repeat Expansion: genetics} } Model organisms have contributed substantially to our understanding of the etiology of human disease as well as having assisted with the development of new treatment modalities. The availability of the human, mouse and, most recently, the rat genome sequences now permit the comprehensive investigation of the rodent orthologs of genes associated with human disease. Here, we investigate whether human disease genes differ significantly from their rodent orthologs with respect to their overall levels of conservation and their rates of evolutionary change. |
Gibbs, Richard A, Et al. Genome sequence of the Brown Norway rat yields insights into mammalian evolution. (Article) Nature, 428 (6982), pp. 493–521, 2004, ISSN: 1476-4687. (Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Animals, Base Composition, Centromere, Centromere: genetics, Chromosomes, CpG Islands, CpG Islands: genetics, DNA, DNA Transposable Elements, DNA Transposable Elements: genetics, Evolution, Gene Duplication, Genome, Genomics, Humans, Inbred BN, Inbred BN: genetics, Introns, Introns: genetics, Male, Mammalian, Mammalian: genetics, Mice, Mitochondrial, Mitochondrial: genetics, Models, Molecular, Mutagenesis, Nucleic Acid, Nucleic Acid: genetics, Polymorphism, Rats, Regulatory Sequences, Retroelements, Retroelements: genetics, RNA, RNA Splice Sites, RNA Splice Sites: genetics, Sequence Analysis, Single Nucleotide, Single Nucleotide: genetics, Telomere, Telomere: genetics, Untranslated, Untranslated: genetics) @article{Gibbs2004, title = {Genome sequence of the Brown Norway rat yields insights into mammalian evolution.}, author = {Gibbs, Richard A and Et al.}, url = {http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15057822}, issn = {1476-4687}, year = {2004}, date = {2004-01-01}, journal = {Nature}, volume = {428}, number = {6982}, pages = {493--521}, abstract = {The laboratory rat (Rattus norvegicus) is an indispensable tool in experimental medicine and drug development, having made inestimable contributions to human health. We report here the genome sequence of the Brown Norway (BN) rat strain. The sequence represents a high-quality 'draft' covering over 90% of the genome. The BN rat sequence is the third complete mammalian genome to be deciphered, and three-way comparisons with the human and mouse genomes resolve details of mammalian evolution. This first comprehensive analysis includes genes and proteins and their relation to human disease, repeated sequences, comparative genome-wide studies of mammalian orthologous chromosomal regions and rearrangement breakpoints, reconstruction of ancestral karyotypes and the events leading to existing species, rates of variation, and lineage-specific and lineage-independent evolutionary events such as expansion of gene families, orthology relations and protein evolution.}, keywords = {Animals, Base Composition, Centromere, Centromere: genetics, Chromosomes, CpG Islands, CpG Islands: genetics, DNA, DNA Transposable Elements, DNA Transposable Elements: genetics, Evolution, Gene Duplication, Genome, Genomics, Humans, Inbred BN, Inbred BN: genetics, Introns, Introns: genetics, Male, Mammalian, Mammalian: genetics, Mice, Mitochondrial, Mitochondrial: genetics, Models, Molecular, Mutagenesis, Nucleic Acid, Nucleic Acid: genetics, Polymorphism, Rats, Regulatory Sequences, Retroelements, Retroelements: genetics, RNA, RNA Splice Sites, RNA Splice Sites: genetics, Sequence Analysis, Single Nucleotide, Single Nucleotide: genetics, Telomere, Telomere: genetics, Untranslated, Untranslated: genetics} } The laboratory rat (Rattus norvegicus) is an indispensable tool in experimental medicine and drug development, having made inestimable contributions to human health. We report here the genome sequence of the Brown Norway (BN) rat strain. The sequence represents a high-quality 'draft' covering over 90% of the genome. The BN rat sequence is the third complete mammalian genome to be deciphered, and three-way comparisons with the human and mouse genomes resolve details of mammalian evolution. This first comprehensive analysis includes genes and proteins and their relation to human disease, repeated sequences, comparative genome-wide studies of mammalian orthologous chromosomal regions and rearrangement breakpoints, reconstruction of ancestral karyotypes and the events leading to existing species, rates of variation, and lineage-specific and lineage-independent evolutionary events such as expansion of gene families, orthology relations and protein evolution. |
2002 |
Messeguer, Xavier, Escudero, Ruth, Farré, Domènec, Núñez, Oscar, Martínez, Javier, Albà, M Mar PROMO: detection of known transcription regulatory elements using species-tailored searches. (Article) Bioinformatics (Oxford, England), 18 (2), pp. 333–4, 2002, ISSN: 1367-4803. (Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Animals, Binding Sites, Binding Sites: genetics, Computational Biology, DNA, DNA: genetics, DNA: metabolism, Humans, Software, Species Specificity, Transcription Factors, Transcription Factors: metabolism) @article{Messeguer2002, title = {PROMO: detection of known transcription regulatory elements using species-tailored searches.}, author = {Messeguer, Xavier and Escudero, Ruth and Farré, Domènec and Núñez, Oscar and Martínez, Javier and Albà, M Mar}, url = {http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11847087}, issn = {1367-4803}, year = {2002}, date = {2002-01-01}, journal = {Bioinformatics (Oxford, England)}, volume = {18}, number = {2}, pages = {333--4}, abstract = {We have developed a set of tools to construct positional weight matrices from known transcription factor binding sites in a species or taxon-specific manner, and to search for matches in DNA sequences.}, keywords = {Animals, Binding Sites, Binding Sites: genetics, Computational Biology, DNA, DNA: genetics, DNA: metabolism, Humans, Software, Species Specificity, Transcription Factors, Transcription Factors: metabolism} } We have developed a set of tools to construct positional weight matrices from known transcription factor binding sites in a species or taxon-specific manner, and to search for matches in DNA sequences. |
