Journal article
Retroviral envelope gene captures and syncytin exaptation for placentation in marsupials
G Cornelis, C Vernochet, Q Carradec, S Souquere, B Mulot, F Catzeflis, MA Nilsson, BR Menzies, MB Renfree, G Pierron, U Zeller, O Heidmann, A Dupressoir, T Heidmann
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America | Published : 2015
Abstract
Syncytins are genes of retroviral origin captured by eutherian mammals, with a role in placentation. Here we show that some marsupials-which are the closest living relatives to eutherian mammals, although they diverged from the latter ∼190 Mya-also possess a syncytin gene. The gene identified in the South American marsupial opossum and dubbed syncytin-Opo1 has all of the characteristic features of a bona fide syncytin gene: It is fusogenic in an ex vivo cell-cell fusion assay; it is specifically expressed in the short-lived placenta at the level of the syncytial feto-maternal interface; and it is conserved in a functional state in a series of Monodelphis species. We further identify a nonfus..
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Funding Acknowledgements
We thank J. Zeller, Humboldt University, for technical assistance; A. Billepp and P. Grimm, Humboldt University, for assistance in care and breeding of M. domestica; A. Janke, LOEWE Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre, for providing some marsupial genomic DNAs; C. Conroy, Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, for the gift of several Monodelphis tissues; A. Leskowicz and V. Marquis, UMR5503, for the gift of OK cells; Dr. R. Potier, ZooParc de Beauval, for blood samples; O. Bawa, Institut Gustave Roussy, for contribution to the histological analyses; and C. Lavialle, Institut Gustave Roussy, for discussion and critical reading of the manuscript. This work was supported by the CNRS and by grants from the Ligue Nationale Contre Le Cancer (Equipe Labellisee) (to T.H.) and Agence Nationale de la Recherche (Retro-Placenta) (to T.H.).