Moi, David;
Nishio, Shunsuke;
Li, Xiaohui;
Valansi, Clari;
Langleib, Mauricio;
Brukman, Nicolas G;
Flyak, Kateryna;
... Podbilewicz, Benjamin; + view all
(2022)
Discovery of archaeal fusexins homologous to eukaryotic HAP2/GCS1 gamete fusion proteins.
Nature Communications
, 13
(1)
, Article 3880. 10.1038/s41467-022-31564-1.
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Abstract
Sexual reproduction consists of genome reduction by meiosis and subsequent gamete fusion. The presence of genes homologous to eukaryotic meiotic genes in archaea and bacteria suggests that DNA repair mechanisms evolved towards meiotic recombination. However, fusogenic proteins resembling those found in gamete fusion in eukaryotes have so far not been found in prokaryotes. Here, we identify archaeal proteins that are homologs of fusexins, a superfamily of fusogens that mediate eukaryotic gamete and somatic cell fusion, as well as virus entry. The crystal structure of a trimeric archaeal fusexin (Fusexin1 or Fsx1) reveals an archetypical fusexin architecture with unique features such as a six-helix bundle and an additional globular domain. Ectopically expressed Fusexin1 can fuse mammalian cells, and this process involves the additional globular domain and a conserved fusion loop. Furthermore, archaeal fusexin genes are found within integrated mobile elements, suggesting potential roles in cell-cell fusion and gene exchange in archaea, as well as different scenarios for the evolutionary history of fusexins.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Discovery of archaeal fusexins homologous to eukaryotic HAP2/GCS1 gamete fusion proteins |
| Location: | England |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1038/s41467-022-31564-1 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-31564-1 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. |
| Keywords: | Animals, Archaea, Cell Fusion, Eukaryota, Eukaryotic Cells, Germ Cells, Mammals |
| UCL classification: | UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > Div of Biosciences > Genetics, Evolution and Environment UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > Div of Biosciences |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10151919 |
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