Contents
List of Contributors xi
About the Author xiii
Foreword xv
Preface xvii
1. Amphioxus as a Model for Understanding the Evolution of Vertebrates Yuchao Feng, Jun Li, Anlong Xu 1
1.1. Brief introduction of amphioxus 1
1.2. Biology of amphioxus 3
1.3. The story of amphioxus and early research studies in China 10
References 12
2. Basic Knowledge of Immunology Xin Tao, Anlong Xu 15
2.1. Immune organs 16
2.2. Immune cells 19
2.3. Innate immunity 22
2.4. Adaptive immunity 32
2.5. Complement system 36
References 40
3. Immune Organs and Cells of Amphioxus Jie Ruan, Anlong Xu 43
3.1. Introduction 43
3.2. Organs of the amphioxus immune system 45
3.3. Cells of the amphioxus immune system 48
References 54
4. Genomic and Transcriptomic View of Amphioxus Immunity Shengfeng Huang, Anlong Xu 57
4.1. Introduction 58
4.2. Trace evidence of adaptive immunity 59
4.3. Extraordinary gene expansion in amphioxus innate immunity 61
4.4. Regulation of the amphioxus immune system 69
4.5. Discussion 78
References 81
5. Pattern Recognition System in Amphioxus Shaochun Yuan, Jie Ruan, Jian Peng, Anlong Xu 85
5.1. TLR signaling pathway in amphioxus 85
5.2. Innate antiviral immunity in amphioxus 102
5.3. NLR signaling pathway 105
References 116
6. T ranscription Factors in Amphioxus Shaochun Yuan, Jie Zhang, Tingting Zheng, Ruihua Wang, Anlong Xu 121
6.1. NF-kB family members in amphioxus 121
6.2. The interferon regulatory factor family in amphioxus 125
6.3. The STATs in amphioxus 130
References 137
7. T he Complement System of Amphioxus Rui Li, Shengfeng Huang and Anlong Xu 141
7.1. Introduction 141
7.2. Tracing the evolutionary origin of the complement system 142
7.3. The complement system of amphioxus 144
References 150
8. T he Oxidative Burst System in Amphioxus Ping Yang, Shengfeng Huang, Anlong Xu 153
8.1. Introduction 153
8.2. NADPH oxidase 2 and the other NOX families 154
8.3. NOX subunits and regulatory proteins 160
8.4. Functions of ROS generated by NADPH oxidases 162
8.5. Phagocytic respiratory burst (PRB) appears to couple with phagocytosis
in the amphioxus gut epithelial lining cells 163
References 163
9. Immune Effectors in Amphioxus Guangrui Huang, Shengfeng Huang and Anlong Xu 167
9.1. Galectin 167
9.2. C-type lectin 170
9.3. Peptidoglycan recognition protein 173
9.4. Gram-negative bacteria-binding protein 175
9.5. Chitin-binding protein 175
9.6. Apextrin-like protein 176
9.7. Bactericidal/permeability-increasing protein 182
9.8. Other effector genes 184
References 185
10. E volution of Inflammation-Related Lipid Metabolism Pathway and Inflammatory Lipid Signaling in Amphioxus Dongjuan Yuan, Anlong Xu 189
10.1. Introduction 189
10.2. The classification, structure, and function of fatty acids and eicosanoids 190
10.3. Origin of vertebrate eicosanoid production 191
References 202
11. Apoptosis in Amphioxus Shaochun Yuan, Anlong Xu 207
11.1. Apoptosis in mammals 207
11.2. Apoptosis-related gene families in amphioxus 209
References 218
12. Primitive Adaptive Immune System of Amphioxus Yuchao Feng, Shengfeng Huang, Xingsheng Cai, Anlong Xu 221
12.1. Evidence of the emergence of adaptive immunity in amphioxus 223
12.2. The primary building blocks for MHC and Rag protein 226
12.3. Alternative forms of variable immune receptors 236
12.4. Closing remark 239
References 239
13. Future Research Directions Xiangru Dong, Rirong Yang, Yuxin Li, Anlong Xu 245
13.1. Ubiquitination of immune signaling in amphioxus 245
13.2. The microRNAs in amphioxus 253
13.3. Alternative 3’ UTRs in the amphioxus immune response 256
References 260
Abbreviation Index 265
Subject Index 277