Sep 21, 2023 02:20 AM
(This post was last modified: Sep 21, 2023 02:21 AM by C C.)
https://www.sciencealert.com/ancient-ori...-years-ago
INTRO: The building blocks of our brain cells may have begun to form back when our ancestors were still a blobby collection of animal cells oozing through the ocean's shallows.
Researchers from Spain and Germany have discovered characteristics of specialized secretory cells in simple animals called placozoans which could identify them as a prelude to neurons in other organisms.
Roughly the size of a grain of sand, these basic creatures have no organs, consisting of little more than a colony of different cell types. Much as they still do today, placozoans once hunted microbes and browsed algae in the warm shallows of seas 800 million years ago.
To achieve this feat, they rely on cells that help coordinate their bodies. Centre for Genomic Regulation cell biologist Sebastián Najle and colleagues discovered these so-called peptidergic cells have a number of uncannily similar traits to the cells we owe our own smarts to.
"We were astounded by the parallels," exclaims Najle. "The placozoan peptidergic cells have many similarities to primitive neuronal cells, even if they aren't quite there yet. It's like looking at an evolutionary stepping stone." (MORE - details)
- - - - - - - - -
Tiny sea creatures reveal the ancient origins of neurons
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1001544
INTRO: A study in the journal Cell sheds new light on the evolution of neurons, focusing on the placozoans, a millimetre-sized marine animal. Researchers at the Centre for Genomic Regulation in Barcelona find evidence that specialized secretory cells found in these unique and ancient creatures may have given rise to neurons in more complex animals.
Placozoans are tiny animals, around the size of a large grain of sand, which graze on algae and microbes living on the surface of rocks and other substrates found in shallow, warm seas. The blob-like and pancake-shaped creatures are so simple that they live without any body parts or organs. These animals, thought to have first appeared on Earth around 800 million years ago, are one of the five main lineages of animals alongside Ctenophora (comb jellies), Porifera (sponges), Cnidaria (corals, sea anemones and jellyfish) and Bilateria (all other animals).
The sea creatures coordinate their behaviour thanks to peptidergic cells, special types of cells that release small peptides which can direct the animal’s movement or feeding. Driven by the intrigue of the origin of these cells, the authors of the study employed an array of molecular techniques and computational models to understand how placozoan cell types evolved and piece together how our ancient ancestors might have looked and functioned... (MORE - details, no ads)
INTRO: The building blocks of our brain cells may have begun to form back when our ancestors were still a blobby collection of animal cells oozing through the ocean's shallows.
Researchers from Spain and Germany have discovered characteristics of specialized secretory cells in simple animals called placozoans which could identify them as a prelude to neurons in other organisms.
Roughly the size of a grain of sand, these basic creatures have no organs, consisting of little more than a colony of different cell types. Much as they still do today, placozoans once hunted microbes and browsed algae in the warm shallows of seas 800 million years ago.
To achieve this feat, they rely on cells that help coordinate their bodies. Centre for Genomic Regulation cell biologist Sebastián Najle and colleagues discovered these so-called peptidergic cells have a number of uncannily similar traits to the cells we owe our own smarts to.
"We were astounded by the parallels," exclaims Najle. "The placozoan peptidergic cells have many similarities to primitive neuronal cells, even if they aren't quite there yet. It's like looking at an evolutionary stepping stone." (MORE - details)
- - - - - - - - -
Tiny sea creatures reveal the ancient origins of neurons
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1001544
INTRO: A study in the journal Cell sheds new light on the evolution of neurons, focusing on the placozoans, a millimetre-sized marine animal. Researchers at the Centre for Genomic Regulation in Barcelona find evidence that specialized secretory cells found in these unique and ancient creatures may have given rise to neurons in more complex animals.
Placozoans are tiny animals, around the size of a large grain of sand, which graze on algae and microbes living on the surface of rocks and other substrates found in shallow, warm seas. The blob-like and pancake-shaped creatures are so simple that they live without any body parts or organs. These animals, thought to have first appeared on Earth around 800 million years ago, are one of the five main lineages of animals alongside Ctenophora (comb jellies), Porifera (sponges), Cnidaria (corals, sea anemones and jellyfish) and Bilateria (all other animals).
The sea creatures coordinate their behaviour thanks to peptidergic cells, special types of cells that release small peptides which can direct the animal’s movement or feeding. Driven by the intrigue of the origin of these cells, the authors of the study employed an array of molecular techniques and computational models to understand how placozoan cell types evolved and piece together how our ancient ancestors might have looked and functioned... (MORE - details, no ads)