The Impact of Natural Selection on the Evolution and Function of Placentally Expressed Galectins.

ABSTRACT: Immunity genes have repeatedly experienced natural selection during mammalian evolution. Galectins are carbohydrate-binding proteins that regulate diverse immune responses, including maternal-fetal immune tolerance in placental pregnancy. Seven human galectins, four conserved across vertebrates and three specific to primates, are involved in placental development. To comprehensively study the molecular evolution of these galectins, both across mammals and within humans, we conducted a series of between- and within-species evolutionary analyses. By examining patterns of sequence evolution between species, we found that primate-specific galectins showed uniformly high substitution rates, whereas two of the four other galectins experienced accelerated evolution in primates. By examining human

SUBMITTER: Ely ZA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6751361 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature