Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

EVOLUTION

Neuropeptides at the origin of neurons

Nature Ecology & Evolution volume 6, pages 1410–1411 (2022)Cite this article

Subjects

Cnidarians and ctenophores have morphologically simpler nervous systems than those of bilaterians. Discovery and characterization of neuropeptides in a comb jelly and a sea anemone support a common origin of animal peptidergic neurons from digestive cells that could sense their environment.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Illustration of the digestive neuron hypothesis proposed by Hayakawa et al.

References

  1. Yañez-Guerra, L. A., Thiel, D. & Jékely, G. Mol. Biol. Evol. 39, msac051 (2022).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Sachkova, M. Y. et al. Curr. Biol. 31, 5274–5285.e6 (2021).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Grimmelikhuijzen, C. J., Leviev, I. & Carstensen, K. Int. Rev. Cytol. 167, 37–89 (1996).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Jékely, G. et al. J. Exp. Biol. 221, jeb166710 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Jékely, G. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B 376, 20190761 (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Moroz, L. L. et al. Nature 510, 109–114 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Jékely, G., Paps, J. & Nielsen, C. Evodevo 6, 1 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Sebé-Pedrós, A. et al. Nat. Ecol. Evol. 2, 1176–1188 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Hayakawa, E. et al. Nat. Ecol. Evol. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-022-01835-7 (2022).

  10. Sebé-Pedrós, A. et al. Cell 173, 1520–1534.e20 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Hernandez-Nicaise, M.-L. in Microscopic Anatomy of Invertebrates Vol. 2 (ed Harrison, F. W.) Ctenophora (Wiley-Liss, 1991).

  12. Moroz, L. L. Front. Cell Dev. Biol. 9, 669087 (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Burkhardt, P. & Jékely, G. Curr. Opin. Neurobiol. 71, 127–138 (2021).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Musser, J. M. et al. Science 374, 717–723 (2021).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Jager, M. et al. J. Exp. Zool. B Mol. Dev. Evol. 316B, 171–187 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sars International Centre for Marine Molecular Biology, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway

    Maria Y. Sachkova

Authors
  1. Maria Y. Sachkova
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Maria Y. Sachkova.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The author declares no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Sachkova, M.Y. Neuropeptides at the origin of neurons. Nat Ecol Evol 6, 1410–1411 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-022-01828-6

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-022-01828-6

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing