Abstract

I recently joined the University of Bristol as a lecturer. I am broadly interested in the evolution and biochemistry of biological systems based on peptide-receptor interactions such as neuropeptide signalling and venoms. In this talk, I will present my recent projects on ctenophore and cnidarian neuropeptides, key regulators in the nervous systems.

Ancestors of the modern ctenophores (or comb jellies) and cnidarians (e.g., sea anemones, jellyfish and corals) were the first animals to acquire neurons, however, evolutionary origin of neurons is still unclear. To understand fundamental mechanisms of the nervous system evolution in the whole animal kingdom, it is necessary to study molecular machinery of the neurons in these ancient lineages. Our recent work revealed a new class of sea anemone neuropeptides and a peculiar evolutionary pathway of peptide recruitment from nervous to venom system in these animals. Further, for the first time, we managed to identify the unique ctenophore neuropeptides produced by their peculiar syncytial nerve net. With the new neuropeptides as molecular markers, we were also able to reveal the so-far unknown neuronal transcriptome in the published single cell RNAseq data. This work uncovered ctenophore neuronal machinery and represents a significant step forward towards understanding the evolution of the first neurons. We plan to further characterise mechanisms of neuropeptide signalling in comb jellies by identifying receptors targeted by neuropeptides