摘要The MyD88-independent pathway,one of the two crucial TLR signaling routes,Is thought to be a vertebrate innovation.However,a novel Toll/interleukin-1 receptor (TIR) adaptor,designated bbtTICAM,which was identified in the basal chordate amphioxus,links this pathway to invertebrates.The protein architecture of bbtTICAM is similar to that of vertebrate TICAM1 (TIR-containing adaptor molecule-1,also known as TRIF),while phylogenetic analysis based on the TIR domain indicated that bbtTICAM is the oldest ortholog of vertebrate TICAMI and TICAM2(TIR-containing adaptor molecule-2,also known as TRAM).Similar to human TICAM1,bbtTICAM activates NF-κB in a MyD88-independent manner by interacting with receptor interacting protein (RIP) via its RHIM motif.Such activation requires bbtTICAM to form homodimers in endosomes,and it may be negatively regulated by amphioxus SARM (sterile a and armadillo motif-containing protein) and TRAF2.However,bbtTICAM did not induce the production of type I interferon.Thus,our study not only presents the ancestral features of vertebrate TICAM I and TICAM2,but also reveals the evolutionary origin of the MyD88-independent pathway from basal chordates,which will aid in understanding the development of the vertebrate TLR network.