Tracing the evolutionary origin of the TFF-domain, an ancient motif at mucous surfaces

• Published in: Gene Vol. 236; no. 1; pp. 133 - 136
• Main Authors: Sommer, Patricia, Blin, Nikolaus, Gött, Peter
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 05.08.1999
• Subjects: Alpha-glucosidase; Amino Acid Sequence; Animals; Chromosome Mapping; Chromosomes, Human, Pair 21; Evolution, Molecular; Exons; Growth Substances - genetics; Humans; Molecular Sequence Data; Mucin glycoprotein; Mucins; Muscle Proteins; Neuropeptides; Peptides - genetics; Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; Sucrase-isomaltase; Trefoil factor family; trefoil factor family proteins; Trefoil Factor-2; Trefoil Factor-3; Urochordata - genetics; Zona pellucida protein; Mucin glycoprotein; Zona pellucida protein; Sucrase-isomaltase; Trefoil factor family; Alpha-glucosidase
• ISSN: 0378-1119; 1879-0038
• DOI: 10.1016/S0378-1119(99)00243-7

Mammalian trefoil factor family (TFF)-domain peptides promote gastrointestinal protection, healing and cell migration and may act as tumour suppressors. TFF-like domains also constitute modules of composite proteins like mucin glycoproteins and zona pellucida proteins. Database searches with a modified, less stringent consensus sequence — C–x(5,6)–[ST]–x(3)–C–x(4,5)–C–C–[FYWH]–x(2,24)–C–[FY] — revealed that ancestors of the TFF-domain arose before amphibian evolution. Eggshell proteins and a zona pellucida-like protein in teleost species, an epidermis-specific protein in a tunicate as well as an open reading frame in a nematode exhibited TFF-like motifs suggesting that they most likely originated in some multicellular organism.