Tracking the origin and divergence of cholinesterases and neuroligins: the evolution of synaptic proteins

Nicolas Lenfant (1) , Thierry Hotelier (2) , Yves Bourne (3) , Pascale Marchot (3) , Arnaud Chatonnet (1)

1 DMEM - Dynamique Musculaire et Métabolisme
2 SDAR - SDAR Occitanie Montpellier
3 AFMB - Architecture et fonction des macromolécules biologiques

A cholinesterase activity can be found in all kingdoms of living organism, yet cholinesterases involved in cholinergic transmission appeared only recently in the animal phylum. Among various proteins homologous to cholinesterases, one finds neuroligins. These proteins, with an altered catalytic triad and no known hydrolytic activity, display well-identified cell adhesion properties. The availability of complete genomes of a few metazoans provides opportunities to evaluate when these two protein families emerged during evolution. In bilaterian animals, acetylcholinesterase co-localizes with proteins of cholinergic synapses while neuroligins co-localize and may interact with proteins of excitatory glutamatergic or inhibitory GABAergic/glycinergic synapses. To compare evolution of the cholinesterases and neuroligins with other proteins involved in the architecture and functioning of synapses, we devised a method to search for orthologs of these partners in genomes of model organisms representing distinct stages of metazoan evolution. Our data point to a progressive recruitment of synaptic components during evolution. This finding may shed light on the common or divergent developmental regulation events involved into the setting and maintenance of the cholinergic versus glutamatergic and GABAergic/glycinergic synapses.

Mots clés: Synapses cholinergiques; Glycinergic; Neuroligin; Glutamatergic; GABAergic; Evolution; Acetylcholinesterase; Alpha/beta hydrolase; Cholinergic; Developmental regulation

Domaines: Sciences agricoles; Biologie animale; Biologie du développement

Nicolas Lenfant, Thierry Hotelier, Yves Bourne, Pascale Marchot, Arnaud Chatonnet. Tracking the origin and divergence of cholinesterases and neuroligins: the evolution of synaptic proteins. Journal of Molecular Neuroscience, 2014, 53 (3), pp.362-369. ⟨10.1007/s12031-013-0194-2⟩. ⟨hal-01190082⟩