PUBLICATION

Chitin Is Endogenously Produced in Vertebrates

Authors
Tang, W.J., Fernandez, J.G., Sohn, J.J., Amemiya, C.T.
ID
ZDB-PUB-150317-6
Date
2015
Source
Current biology : CB   25(7): 897-900 (Journal)
Registered Authors
Amemiya, Chris
Keywords
none
MeSH Terms
  • Amphibians/metabolism
  • Animals
  • Chitin/genetics
  • Chitin/metabolism*
  • Chitin Synthase/genetics
  • Chitin Synthase/metabolism*
  • Epithelial Cells/metabolism
  • Fishes/metabolism
  • Intestines/metabolism
  • Larva/growth & development
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Vertebrates/growth & development
  • Vertebrates/metabolism*
  • Zebrafish/metabolism
PubMed
25772447 Full text @ Curr. Biol.
Abstract
Chitin, a biopolymer of N-acetylglucosamine, is abundant in invertebrates and fungi and is an important structural molecule [1, 2]. There has been a longstanding belief that vertebrates do not produce chitin; however, we have obtained compelling evidence to the contrary. Chitin synthase genes are present in numerous fishes and amphibians, and chitin is localized in situ to the lumen of the developing zebrafish gut, in epithelial cells of fish scales, and in at least three different cell types in larval salamander appendages. Chitin synthase gene knockdowns and various histochemical experiments in zebrafish further authenticated our results. Finally, a polysaccharide was extracted from scales of salmon that exhibited all the chemical hallmarks of chitin. Our data and analyses demonstrate the existence of endogenous chitin in vertebrates and suggest that it serves multiple roles in vertebrate biology.
Genes / Markers
Figures
Show all Figures
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping