Molecular evolution and the role of oxidative stress in the expansion and functional diversification of cytosolic glutathione transferases

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Cytosolic glutathione transferases (cGST) are a large group of ubiquitous enzymes involved in detoxification and are well known for their undesired side effects during chemotherapy. In this work we have performed thorough phylogeneti...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Vasconcelos Vítor, O'Brien Stephen J, Johnson Warren E, da Fonseca Rute R, Antunes Agostinho
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2010-09-01
Series:BMC Evolutionary Biology
Online Access:http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2148/10/281
_version_ 1798029158526222336
author Vasconcelos Vítor
O'Brien Stephen J
Johnson Warren E
da Fonseca Rute R
Antunes Agostinho
author_facet Vasconcelos Vítor
O'Brien Stephen J
Johnson Warren E
da Fonseca Rute R
Antunes Agostinho
author_sort Vasconcelos Vítor
collection DOAJ
description <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Cytosolic glutathione transferases (cGST) are a large group of ubiquitous enzymes involved in detoxification and are well known for their undesired side effects during chemotherapy. In this work we have performed thorough phylogenetic analyses to understand the various aspects of the evolution and functional diversification of cGSTs. Furthermore, we assessed plausible correlations between gene duplication and substrate specificity of gene paralogs in humans and selected species, notably in mammalian enzymes and their natural substrates.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We present a molecular phylogeny of cytosolic GSTs that shows that several classes of cGSTs are more ubiquitous and thus have an older ancestry than previously thought. Furthermore, we found that positive selection is implicated in the diversification of cGSTs. The number of duplicate genes per class is generally higher for groups of enzymes that metabolize products of oxidative damage.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>1) Protection against oxidative stress seems to be the major driver of positive selection in mammalian cGSTs, explaining the overall expansion pattern of this subfamily;</p> <p>2) Given the functional redundancy of GSTs that metabolize xenobiotic chemicals, we would expect the loss of gene duplicates, but by contrast we observed a gene expansion of this family, which likely has been favored by: i) the diversification of endogenous substrates; ii) differential tissue expression; and iii) increased specificity for a particular molecule;</p> <p>3) The increased availability of sequence data from diversified taxa is likely to continue to improve our understanding of the early origin of the different cGST classes.</p>
first_indexed 2024-04-11T19:20:49Z
format Article
id doaj.art-2b7d94d285e743cc87bd7f0f9ab9c5cf
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 1471-2148
language English
last_indexed 2024-04-11T19:20:49Z
publishDate 2010-09-01
publisher BMC
record_format Article
series BMC Evolutionary Biology
spelling doaj.art-2b7d94d285e743cc87bd7f0f9ab9c5cf2022-12-22T04:07:19ZengBMCBMC Evolutionary Biology1471-21482010-09-0110128110.1186/1471-2148-10-281Molecular evolution and the role of oxidative stress in the expansion and functional diversification of cytosolic glutathione transferasesVasconcelos VítorO'Brien Stephen JJohnson Warren Eda Fonseca Rute RAntunes Agostinho<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Cytosolic glutathione transferases (cGST) are a large group of ubiquitous enzymes involved in detoxification and are well known for their undesired side effects during chemotherapy. In this work we have performed thorough phylogenetic analyses to understand the various aspects of the evolution and functional diversification of cGSTs. Furthermore, we assessed plausible correlations between gene duplication and substrate specificity of gene paralogs in humans and selected species, notably in mammalian enzymes and their natural substrates.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We present a molecular phylogeny of cytosolic GSTs that shows that several classes of cGSTs are more ubiquitous and thus have an older ancestry than previously thought. Furthermore, we found that positive selection is implicated in the diversification of cGSTs. The number of duplicate genes per class is generally higher for groups of enzymes that metabolize products of oxidative damage.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>1) Protection against oxidative stress seems to be the major driver of positive selection in mammalian cGSTs, explaining the overall expansion pattern of this subfamily;</p> <p>2) Given the functional redundancy of GSTs that metabolize xenobiotic chemicals, we would expect the loss of gene duplicates, but by contrast we observed a gene expansion of this family, which likely has been favored by: i) the diversification of endogenous substrates; ii) differential tissue expression; and iii) increased specificity for a particular molecule;</p> <p>3) The increased availability of sequence data from diversified taxa is likely to continue to improve our understanding of the early origin of the different cGST classes.</p>http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2148/10/281
spellingShingle Vasconcelos Vítor
O'Brien Stephen J
Johnson Warren E
da Fonseca Rute R
Antunes Agostinho
Molecular evolution and the role of oxidative stress in the expansion and functional diversification of cytosolic glutathione transferases
BMC Evolutionary Biology
title Molecular evolution and the role of oxidative stress in the expansion and functional diversification of cytosolic glutathione transferases
title_full Molecular evolution and the role of oxidative stress in the expansion and functional diversification of cytosolic glutathione transferases
title_fullStr Molecular evolution and the role of oxidative stress in the expansion and functional diversification of cytosolic glutathione transferases
title_full_unstemmed Molecular evolution and the role of oxidative stress in the expansion and functional diversification of cytosolic glutathione transferases
title_short Molecular evolution and the role of oxidative stress in the expansion and functional diversification of cytosolic glutathione transferases
title_sort molecular evolution and the role of oxidative stress in the expansion and functional diversification of cytosolic glutathione transferases
url http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2148/10/281
work_keys_str_mv AT vasconcelosvitor molecularevolutionandtheroleofoxidativestressintheexpansionandfunctionaldiversificationofcytosolicglutathionetransferases
AT obrienstephenj molecularevolutionandtheroleofoxidativestressintheexpansionandfunctionaldiversificationofcytosolicglutathionetransferases
AT johnsonwarrene molecularevolutionandtheroleofoxidativestressintheexpansionandfunctionaldiversificationofcytosolicglutathionetransferases
AT dafonsecaruter molecularevolutionandtheroleofoxidativestressintheexpansionandfunctionaldiversificationofcytosolicglutathionetransferases
AT antunesagostinho molecularevolutionandtheroleofoxidativestressintheexpansionandfunctionaldiversificationofcytosolicglutathionetransferases