The Evolutionary Portrait of Metazoan NAD Salvage

• Type: Article in International Scientific Journal
• Date: 2013

Authors

Joao Carneiro (Author) Other; Sara Duarte Pereira (Author) Other; Luisa Azevedo (Author) FCUP; Filipe F C Castro (Author) FCUP; Paulo Aguiar (Author) FCUP; Irina S Moreira (Author) Other; Antonio Amorim (Author) FCUP; Raquel M Silva (Author) Other

Journal

Title: PLoS ONE

Vol. 8 No. 1

Final page: e64674

ISSN: 1932-6203

Publisher: Public Library of Science

Indexing

ISI Web of Knowledge - 8 Citations

Scopus - 9 Citations

Scientific classification

FOS: Natural sciences > Biological sciences

CORDIS: Natural sciences > Biological sciences > Biology > Genetics ; Natural sciences > Biological sciences > Biology > Evolutionary biology

Other information

Authenticus ID: P-005-0N7

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0064674

Abstract (EN): Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide (NAD) levels are essential for cellular homeostasis and survival. Main sources of intracellular NAD are the salvage pathways from nicotinamide, where Nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferases (NAMPTs) and Nicotinamidases (PNCs) have a key role. NAMPTs and PNCs are important in aging, infection and disease conditions such as diabetes and cancer. These enzymes have been considered redundant since either one or the other exists in each individual genome. The co-occurrence of NAMPT and PNC was only recently detected in invertebrates though no structural or functional characterization exists for them. Here, using expression and evolutionary analysis combined with homology modeling and protein-ligand docking, we show that both genes are expressed simultaneously in key species of major invertebrate branches and emphasize sequence and structural conservation patterns in metazoan NAMPT and PNC homologues. The results anticipate that NAMPTs and PNCs are simultaneously active, raising the possibility that NAD salvage pathways are not redundant as both are maintained to fulfill the requirement for NAD production in some species.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific

No. of pages: 11