The Primate Major Histocompatibility Complex: A Case Study of Gene Family Evolution.

ABSTRACT: Gene families are groups of evolutionarily-related genes. One large gene family that has experienced rapid evolution lies within the Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC), whose proteins serve critical roles in innate and adaptive immunity. Across the ~60 million year history of the primates, some MHC genes have turned over completely, some have changed function, some have converged in function, and others have remained essentially unchanged. Past work has typically focused on identifying MHC alleles within particular species or comparing gene content, but more work is needed to understand the overall evolution of the gene family across species. Thus, despite the immunologic importance of the MHC and its peculiar evolutionary history, we lack a complete picture of MHC evolution in the pri

SUBMITTER: Fortier AL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11429698 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature