title: Evolution of the hepcidin gene in primates.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Hepcidin/LEAP-1 is an iron regulatory hormone originally identified as an antimicrobial peptide. As part of a systematic analysis of the evolution of host defense peptides in primates, we have sequenced the orthologous gene from 14 species of non-human primates.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The sequence of the mature peptide is highly conserved amongst all the analyzed species, being identical to the human one in great apes and gibbons, with a single residue conservative variation in Old-World monkeys and with few substitutions in New-World monkeys.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our analysis indicates that hepcidin's role as a regulatory hormone, which involves interaction with a conserved receptor (ferroportin), may result in conservation over most of its sequence, with the exception of the stretch between residues 15 and 18, which in New-World monkeys (as well as in other mammals) shows a significant variation, possibly indicating that this structural region is involved in other functions.
authors.affiliation: Genetic Unit, IRCCS Burlo Garofolo and Department of Reproductive and Developmental Sciences, University of Trieste, Trieste, Italy. segat@burlo.trieste.it
authors.forename: Ludovica
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Segat
authors.forename: Alessandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pontillo
authors.forename: Michele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Milanese
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tossi
authors.forename: Sergio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Crovella
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000663:Amphibians; D000818:Animals; D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D002520:Cercopithecidae / Q000235:genetics; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D014644:Genetic Variation; D064451:Hepcidins; D006801:Humans; D016674:Hylobatidae / Q000235:genetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D011323:Primates / Q000235:genetics*; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides; C578702:HAMP protein, human; D064451:Hepcidins