Human-specific evolution in battling bugs and building babies
2010-11-05
(Press-News.org) Although human and chimpanzee immune systems have many identical components, this is not the case for the family of killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIR) controlling white blood cells known as natural killer (NK) cells. Published in the open-access journal PloS Genetics on November 4, a paper by Stanford University researchers describes qualitative KIR differences, acquired after humans and chimpanzees separated 6 million years ago and mainly a consequence of innovation in the human line. These differences open up an exciting avenue for explaining the differential susceptibility of humans and chimpanzees to devastating infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS and malaria.
While immunological research has increasingly concentrated on the inbred laboratory mouse for the last half century, mice actually represent a poor model for human KIR because their NK cell receptors are so disparate from the simian primate counterparts. As a result, the researchers looked at chimpanzee KIR so that they could accurately compare them with the well-characterized human versions.
NK cells serve in both immune defense and reproduction; they contribute to early defense against infection and are implicated during the early phase of pregnancy, when uterine NK cells orchestrate enlargement of maternal arteries that will supply blood to the placenta and nourish the fetus. These vital NK cell functions seem subject to variable and competing selective pressures that have driven rapid KIR evolution and produced striking differences between humans and chimpanzees, as closely related as they are. These distinctions derive from adaptations in the human line in response to selective pressures on human NK cells due to the competing needs of defense and reproduction. Whereas chimpanzees have a potent battery of KIR that appears aimed at fighting infection, the human KIR represent a functional compromise between battling bugs and building babies.
INFORMATION:
FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE: This study was supported by National Institutes of Health grants AI24258 and AI22039 to Peter Parham; the authors also acknowledge the support of the Yerkes Center Base Grant RR000165. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
COMPETING INTERESTS: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
CITATION: Abi-Rached L, Moesta AK, Rajalingam R, Guethlein LA, Parham P (2010) Human-Specific Evolution and Adaptation Led to Major Qualitative Differences in the Variable Receptors of Human and Chimpanzee Natural Killer Cells. PLoS Genet 6(11): e1001192. doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.1001192
PLEASE ADD THIS LINK TO THE FREELY AVAILABLE ARTICLE IN ONLINE VERSIONS OF YOUR REPORT (the link will go live when the embargo ends): http://www.plosgenetics.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pgen.1001192
PRESS-ONLY PREVIEW OF THE ARTICLE:
http://www.plos.org/press/plge-06-11-parham.pdf
Disclaimer
This press release refers to an upcoming article in PLoS Genetics. The release is provided by journal staff, or by the article authors and/or their institutions. Any opinions expressed in this release or article are the personal views of the journal staff and/or article contributors, and do not necessarily represent the views or policies of PLoS. PLoS expressly disclaims any and all warranties and liability in connection with the information found in the releases and articles and your use of such information.
About PLoS Genetics
PLoS Genetics (http://www.plosgenetics.org) reflects the full breadth and interdisciplinary nature of genetics and genomics research by publishing outstanding original contributions in all areas of biology. All works published in PLoS Genetics are open access. Everything is immediately and freely available online throughout the world subject only to the condition that the original authorship and source are properly attributed. Copyright is retained by the authors. The Public Library of Science uses the Creative Commons Attribution License.
About the Public Library of Science
The Public Library of Science (PLoS) is a non-profit organization of scientists and physicians committed to making the world's scientific and medical literature a freely available public resource. For more information, visit http://www.plos.org.
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
2010-11-05
A new study published today shows a genetic 'battle of the sexes' could be much harder to resolve and even more important to evolution than previously thought.
This battle, observed across many species and known as intralocus sexual conflict, happens when the genes for a trait which is good for the breeding success of one sex are bad for the other – sparking an 'evolutionary tug-o-war' between the sexes.
It has previously been thought these issues were only resolved when the trait in question evolves to become sex-specific in its development – meaning the trait only ...
2010-11-05
ASDs include a range of neurodevelopmental conditions that are being diagnosed at an increasing rate. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that ASD currently affects 1 in 110 people. The prevalence of schizophrenia, with a diagnostic rate of 1 in 100 to 1 in 20, is similar. ASD and schizophrenia affect males more often than females, and both are thought to have a strong and overlapping genetic component. "The genetic overlap between ASD and schizophrenia, both of which have a high heritability, has been the focus of several recent studies; however, no ...
2010-11-05
A research team led by Teh-hui Kao, professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at Penn State University, in collaboration with a team lead by Professor Seiji Takayama at the Nara Institute of Science and Technology in Japan, has discovered a large suite of genes in the petunia plant that acts to prevent it from breeding with itself or with its close relatives, and to promote breeding with unrelated individuals. In much the same way that human inbreeding sometimes results in genetic disease and inferior health, some inbred plants also experience decreased fitness, and ...
2010-11-05
Tiny variants in a protein that alerts the immune system to the presence of infection may underlie the rare ability of some individuals to control HIV infection without the need for medications. In a report that will appear in Science and is receiving early online release, an international research team led by investigators from the Ragon Institute of Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), MIT and Harvard and from the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard describe finding that differences in five amino acids in a protein called HLA-B are associated with whether or not HIV-infected ...
2010-11-05
A registry of health care information on patients with mild to moderate chronic kidney disease (CKD) could help physicians improve care for affected individuals, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society Nephrology (CJASN). The results suggest that officials could use such a registry to develop a national surveillance system to identify and track various aspects of CKD.
The incidence and health care costs of CKD are growing. A national reporting system that collects health care details on dialysis patients and ...
2010-11-05
Today, individuals with lupus nephritis benefit from better treatments than a decade ago, according to a review appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society Nephrology (JASN). The article suggests that patients with the disease can now live full lives without suffering from many treatment-related side effects that plagued them in the past. In the future, patients will likely experience additional benefits from treatment strategies currently being explored in clinical trials.
Individuals with the autoimmune disease systemic lupus erythematosus ...
2010-11-05
Lasofoxifene statistically reduced the overall risk of breast cancer, as well as ER positive invasive breast cancer in postmenopausal women with low bone density, according to a study published online in The Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
Lasofoxifene is a SERM, or selective estrogen receptor modulator, that, like tamoxifen, blocks the effects of estrogen in breast tissue. Another SERM, raloxifene, has been shown to reduce breast cancer risk. In the Postmenopausal Evaluation and Risk-Reduction with Lasofoxifene (PEARL) trial, a double-blind, placebo-controlled, ...
2010-11-05
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Researchers at Harvard University say America's obesity epidemic won't plateau until at least 42 percent of adults are obese, an estimate derived by applying mathematical modeling to 40 years of Framingham Heart Study data.
Their work, published this week in the journal PLoS Computational Biology, runs counter to recent assertions by some experts that the obesity rate, which has been at 34 percent for the past five years, may have peaked. An additional 34 percent of American adults are overweight but not obese, according to the federal government's ...
2010-11-05
Chevy Chase, MD—The beneficial effects of six months of testosterone treatment on muscle mass, strength and quality of life in frail elderly men are not maintained at six months post-treatment, according to a study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM).
Frailty is an age-related state of physical limitation caused by the loss of muscle mass and function and can lead to adverse clinical outcomes such as dependency, institutionalization and death. Testosterone levels naturally decline with aging and testosterone ...
2010-11-05
Chevy Chase, MD—Researchers may have identified a promising novel diagnostic biomarker for ectopic pregnancy, according to a study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM). In the western world, deaths from ectopic pregnancy are not common but in the developing world one in ten women who are admitted with an ectopic pregnancy die.
An ectopic pregnancy is an abnormal pregnancy that occurs outside the uterine cavity. Most ectopic pregnancies take place in the Fallopian tube but implantation can also occur ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
[Press-News.org] Human-specific evolution in battling bugs and building babies
