Primate innate immune responses to bacterial and viral pathogens reveals an evolutionary trade-off between strength and specificity.

ABSTRACT: Despite their close genetic relatedness, apes and African and Asian monkeys (AAMs) differ in their susceptibility to severe bacterial and viral infections that are important causes of human disease. Such differences between humans and other primates are thought to be a result, at least in part, of interspecies differences in immune response to infection. However, because of the lack of comparative functional data across species, it remains unclear in what ways the immune systems of humans and other primates differ. Here, we report the whole-genome transcriptomic responses of ape species (human and chimpanzee) and AAMs (rhesus macaque and baboon) to bacterial and viral stimulation. We find stark differences in the responsiveness of these groups, with apes mounting a markedly stronger early

SUBMITTER: Hawash MBF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8020666 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature