Structure and function of ciliate pheromones, evolutionary forerunners of ‘modern’ self/not-self cell signaling molecules
Self/not-self discrimination is at the core of immunology, and represented the driving force in the evolution of vertebrate adaptive immune systems. The knowledge of its molecular basis is essential to develop new immunotherapies and vaccines, and enormous research interest has focused on mammalian systems which, however, are often difficult to be experimentally dissected into single, easier analyzable components. Help to circumvent some difficulties can derived from studying ‘simpler’ evolutionary forerunner systems, such as the ‘mating systems’ that in ciliates act via diffusible protein pheromones to control the cell switching between reproduction (mitotic growth) and sex (manifested as cell-cell mating). We stably cultivate species of Euplotes (isolated from temperate and polar waters) that are quantitatively unmatched pheromone sources. The availability of native proteins paved the way to determine (through a long-standing collaboration with Prof. K. Wüthrich, 2002 Nobel Prize in Chemistry) the three-dimensional (NMR and crystallographic) structures of a significant variety of pheromones. The knowledge of these structures, and of their genetic determinants, has established a firm basis to seek into the pheromone mechanisms of action, and to assess the biotechnological potentialities of a few showing the intriguing capacity to cross-react with mammalian protein growth-factors and cytokines.
Keywords - ENGLISH
Comparative immunology, Cell signaling molecules, Self/not-self recognition, Water-borne pheromones, Molecular evolution.
Active participants in the research line (PI last author or *)
Adriana Vallesi; Pierangelo Luporini; Claudio Alimenti
External Collaborations
Bill Pedrini (Paul Scherrer Institute, Villingen, Svizzera); Yoahan Jiang (Ocean University, Repubblica Popolare Cinese)
Pillar
Human Health
Macroareas in Human Health
Analytical characterization and functionality of biological molecules
Email Address
claudio.alimenti@unicam.it
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