A pre-vertebrate endodermal origin of calcitonin-producing neuroendocrine cells

Vertebrate calcitonin-producing cells (C-cells) are neuroendocrine cells that secrete the small peptide hormone calcitonin in response to elevated blood calcium levels. C-cells are crucial for maintenance of calcium homeostasis, yet the embryonic and evolutionary origins of this cell type remain contentious. Whereas mouse C-cells reside within the thyroid gland and derive from pharyngeal endoderm, avian C-cells are located within ultimobranchial glands and were reported to derive from the neural crest. We use a comparative cell lineage tracing approach in a range of vertebrate model systems to resolve the ancestral embryonic origin of vertebrate C-cells. We find, contrary to previous studies, that chick C-cells derive from pharyngeal endoderm, with neural crest-derived cells instead contributing to connective tissue intimately associated with C-cells in the ultimobranchial gland. This endodermal origin of C-cells is conserved in a ray-finned bony fish (zebrafish) and a cartilaginous fish (the little skate,Leucoraja erinacea). Furthermore, we discover putative C-cell homologues within the endodermally-derived pharyngeal epithelium of the ascidianCiona intestinalisand the amphioxusBranchiostoma lanceolatum, two invertebrate chordates that lack neural crest cells. Our findings point to a conserved endodermal origin of C-cells across vertebrates and to a pre-vertebrate origin of this cell type along the chordate stem.