Genetic susceptibility to severe childhood asthma and rhinovirus-C maintained by balancing selection in humans for 150 000 years.

ABSTRACT: Selective pressures imposed by pathogens have varied among human populations throughout their evolution, leading to marked inter-population differences at some genes mediating susceptibility to infectious and immune-related diseases. Here, we investigated the evolutionary history of a common polymorphism resulting in a Y529 versus C529 change in the cadherin related family member 3 (CDHR3) receptor which underlies variable susceptibility to rhinovirus-C infection and is associated with severe childhood asthma. The protective variant is the derived allele and is found at high frequency worldwide (69-95%). We detected genome-wide significant signatures of natural selection consistent with a rapid increase of the haplotypes carrying the allele, suggesting that non-neutral processes have acted

SUBMITTER: O'Neill MB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7104676 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature