Reshuffling of ancient peptide binding motifs between HLA-DRB multigene family members: old wine served in new skins.
In most primate species, the class II region of the Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) displays diversity with regard to gene copy number and combination of DRB genes present per region configuration. Some of these loci exhibit extremely high levels of allelic variability, whereas others display only moderate levels of polymorphism. To understand the evolutionary history of the various HLA-DR region genes, a large number of full-length sequences of rhesus macaques, chimpanzees and humans were determined. The exon-intron organisation of the DRA gene, displaying only low levels of polymorphism, appears to have been highly conserved during primate evolution. The physical length of various DRB genes/alleles, however, fluctuates significantly in primates due to the presence of indels (insertions/deletions), mainly mapping to intron 1. Phylogenetic evidence supports the notion that the generation of new DRB genes is a dynamic and steadily ongoing process. Indeed, most of the primate DRB alleles investigated represent relatively young entities, possessing species-unique sequences. This seems to contradict the current view that the highly similar peptide binding motifs of many HLA-, Patr- and Mamu-DR molecules, encoded by exon 2 of the DRB gene, represent old entities, which predate primate speciation. As no evidence was found for convergent evolution, the combination of these two observations indicates that ancient peptide binding motifs are frequently reshuffled among duplicated members of the HLA-DRB multigene family.
Doxiadis
Gaby G M
GG
Biomedical Primate Research Centre, Department of Comparative Genetics and Refinement, Lange Kleiweg 139, Rijswijk, The Netherlands.
de Groot
Nanine
N
de Groot
Natasja G
NG
Doxiadis
Ilias I N
II
Bontrop
Ronald E
RE
D020816:Amino Acid Motifs; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005091:Exons / Q000235:genetics; D006684:HLA-DR Antigens / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008251:Macaca / Q000235:genetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D005810:Multigene Family / Q000235:genetics*; D002679:Pan troglodytes / Q000235:genetics; D010455:Peptides / Q000378:metabolism*; D010802:Phylogeny; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D011485:Protein Binding; D012641:Selection, Genetic; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid
D006684:HLA-DR Antigens; D010455:Peptides