Tunicates are the closest relatives of vertebrates, and their peculiar phylogenetic position
explains the increasing interest toward tunicate immunobiology. They are filter-feeding …

Allorecognition has been well-studied in the context of vertebrate adaptive immunity and
recognition of the Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC), which is the central event of …

Tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) is considered as a multifunctional immune modulator that
plays an important role in the innate and adaptive immune systems in vertebrates. Here, we …

Human-mediated dispersal of alien species in new biogeographic realms is one of the major
drivers of biodiversity change in marine ecosystems. Among others, ascidians are invasive …

Tunicates are marine invertebrates that compose the closest phylogenetic group to the
vertebrates. These chordates present a particularly diverse range of regenerative abilities …

By mining the transcriptome of the colonial ascidian Botryllus schlosseri, we identified a
transcript for a novel styelin-like antimicrobial peptide, which we named botryllin. The gene …

The urochordates, whose stem groups may have included the direct predecessors of the
chordate line, serve as an excellent model group of organisms for a variety of scientific …

A tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFα)-like gene from Ciona intestinalis (CiTNFα-like) body
wall challenged with bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was cloned and sequenced 4 h …

We studied changes in the morphology of morula cells, a common haemocyte type in
botryllid ascidians, during both the rejection reaction (occurring between contacting …

The presence and the different functional aspects of cytokine-related molecules in
invertebrates are described. Cytokine-like factors affect immune functions, such as cell …