Structural and functional implications of positive selection at the primate angiogenin gene.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Angiogenesis, the formation of new blood vessels, is a primordial process in development and its dysregulation has a central role in the pathogenesis of many diseases. Angiogenin (ANG), a peculiar member of the RNase A superfamily, is a potent inducer of angiogenesis involved in many different types of cancer, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and also with a possible role in the innate immune defense. The evolutionary path of this family has been a highly dynamic one, where positive selection has played a strong role. In this work we used a combined gene and protein level approach to determine the main sites under diversifying selection on the primate ANG gene and analyze its structural and functional implications.

Results

We obtained evidence for positive selection

SUBMITTER: Osorio DS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2194721 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature