Rubbing Salt in the Wound: Molecular Evolutionary Analysis of Pain-Related Genes Reveals the Pain Adaptation of Cetaceans in Seawater
Pain, usually caused by a strong or disruptive stimulus, is an unpleasant sensation that serves as a warning to organisms. To adapt to extreme environments, some terrestrial animals have evolved to be inherently insensitive to pain. Cetaceans are known as supposedly indifferent to pain from soft tis...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:1be4af42240045f3bfac38986d50a998 2023-05-15T17:59:27+02:00 Rubbing Salt in the Wound: Molecular Evolutionary Analysis of Pain-Related Genes Reveals the Pain Adaptation of Cetaceans in Seawater Xiaoyue Ding Fangfang Yu Xiaofang He Shixia Xu Guang Yang Wenhua Ren 2022-12-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3390/ani12243571 https://doaj.org/article/1be4af42240045f3bfac38986d50a998 EN eng MDPI AG https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/12/24/3571 https://doaj.org/toc/2076-2615 doi:10.3390/ani12243571 2076-2615 https://doaj.org/article/1be4af42240045f3bfac38986d50a998 Animals, Vol 12, Iss 3571, p 3571 (2022) cetacean pain analgesia relaxed selection positive selection molecular convergence Veterinary medicine SF600-1100 Zoology QL1-991 article 2022 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3390/ani12243571 2022-12-30T19:33:04Z Pain, usually caused by a strong or disruptive stimulus, is an unpleasant sensation that serves as a warning to organisms. To adapt to extreme environments, some terrestrial animals have evolved to be inherently insensitive to pain. Cetaceans are known as supposedly indifferent to pain from soft tissue injury representatives of marine mammals. However, the molecular mechanisms that explain how cetaceans are adapted to pain in response to seawater environment remain unclear. Here, we performed a molecular evolutionary analysis of pain-related genes in selected representatives of cetaceans. ASIC4 gene was identified to be pseudogenized in all odontocetes (toothed whales) except from Physeter macrocephalus (sperm whales), and relaxed selection of this gene was detected in toothed whales with pseudogenized ASIC4 . In addition, positive selection was detected in pain perception (i.e., ASIC3 , ANO1 , CCK , and SCN9A ) and analgesia (i.e., ASIC3 , ANO1 , CCK , and SCN9A ) genes among the examined cetaceans. In this study, potential convergent amino acid substitutions within predicted proteins were found among the examined cetaceans and other terrestrial mammals, inhabiting extreme environments (e.g., V441I of TRPV1 in cetaceans and naked mole rats). Moreover, specific amino acid substitutions within predicted sequences of several proteins were found in the studied representatives of cetaceans (e.g., F56L and D163A of ASIC3, E88G of GRK2, and F159L of OPRD1). Most of the substitutions were located within important functional domains of proteins, affecting their protein functions. The above evidence suggests that cetaceans might have undergone adaptive molecular evolution in pain-related genes through different evolutionary patterns to adapt to pain, resulting in greater sensitivity to pain and more effective analgesia. This study could have implications for diagnosis and treatment of human pain. Article in Journal/Newspaper Physeter macrocephalus toothed whales Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Animals 12 24 3571 |
institution |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
cetacean pain analgesia relaxed selection positive selection molecular convergence Veterinary medicine SF600-1100 Zoology QL1-991 |
spellingShingle |
cetacean pain analgesia relaxed selection positive selection molecular convergence Veterinary medicine SF600-1100 Zoology QL1-991 Xiaoyue Ding Fangfang Yu Xiaofang He Shixia Xu Guang Yang Wenhua Ren Rubbing Salt in the Wound: Molecular Evolutionary Analysis of Pain-Related Genes Reveals the Pain Adaptation of Cetaceans in Seawater |
topic_facet |
cetacean pain analgesia relaxed selection positive selection molecular convergence Veterinary medicine SF600-1100 Zoology QL1-991 |
description |
Pain, usually caused by a strong or disruptive stimulus, is an unpleasant sensation that serves as a warning to organisms. To adapt to extreme environments, some terrestrial animals have evolved to be inherently insensitive to pain. Cetaceans are known as supposedly indifferent to pain from soft tissue injury representatives of marine mammals. However, the molecular mechanisms that explain how cetaceans are adapted to pain in response to seawater environment remain unclear. Here, we performed a molecular evolutionary analysis of pain-related genes in selected representatives of cetaceans. ASIC4 gene was identified to be pseudogenized in all odontocetes (toothed whales) except from Physeter macrocephalus (sperm whales), and relaxed selection of this gene was detected in toothed whales with pseudogenized ASIC4 . In addition, positive selection was detected in pain perception (i.e., ASIC3 , ANO1 , CCK , and SCN9A ) and analgesia (i.e., ASIC3 , ANO1 , CCK , and SCN9A ) genes among the examined cetaceans. In this study, potential convergent amino acid substitutions within predicted proteins were found among the examined cetaceans and other terrestrial mammals, inhabiting extreme environments (e.g., V441I of TRPV1 in cetaceans and naked mole rats). Moreover, specific amino acid substitutions within predicted sequences of several proteins were found in the studied representatives of cetaceans (e.g., F56L and D163A of ASIC3, E88G of GRK2, and F159L of OPRD1). Most of the substitutions were located within important functional domains of proteins, affecting their protein functions. The above evidence suggests that cetaceans might have undergone adaptive molecular evolution in pain-related genes through different evolutionary patterns to adapt to pain, resulting in greater sensitivity to pain and more effective analgesia. This study could have implications for diagnosis and treatment of human pain. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Xiaoyue Ding Fangfang Yu Xiaofang He Shixia Xu Guang Yang Wenhua Ren |
author_facet |
Xiaoyue Ding Fangfang Yu Xiaofang He Shixia Xu Guang Yang Wenhua Ren |
author_sort |
Xiaoyue Ding |
title |
Rubbing Salt in the Wound: Molecular Evolutionary Analysis of Pain-Related Genes Reveals the Pain Adaptation of Cetaceans in Seawater |
title_short |
Rubbing Salt in the Wound: Molecular Evolutionary Analysis of Pain-Related Genes Reveals the Pain Adaptation of Cetaceans in Seawater |
title_full |
Rubbing Salt in the Wound: Molecular Evolutionary Analysis of Pain-Related Genes Reveals the Pain Adaptation of Cetaceans in Seawater |
title_fullStr |
Rubbing Salt in the Wound: Molecular Evolutionary Analysis of Pain-Related Genes Reveals the Pain Adaptation of Cetaceans in Seawater |
title_full_unstemmed |
Rubbing Salt in the Wound: Molecular Evolutionary Analysis of Pain-Related Genes Reveals the Pain Adaptation of Cetaceans in Seawater |
title_sort |
rubbing salt in the wound: molecular evolutionary analysis of pain-related genes reveals the pain adaptation of cetaceans in seawater |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/ani12243571 https://doaj.org/article/1be4af42240045f3bfac38986d50a998 |
genre |
Physeter macrocephalus toothed whales |
genre_facet |
Physeter macrocephalus toothed whales |
op_source |
Animals, Vol 12, Iss 3571, p 3571 (2022) |
op_relation |
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/12/24/3571 https://doaj.org/toc/2076-2615 doi:10.3390/ani12243571 2076-2615 https://doaj.org/article/1be4af42240045f3bfac38986d50a998 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/ani12243571 |
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Animals |
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12 |
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24 |
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3571 |
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1766168258433515520 |