The evolution of mammalian chemokine genes.
Chemokines play an important role in orchestrating cell recruitment and localization in both physiological and pathological conditions. More than 44 ligands have been identified in the human genome. A significantly different set of chemokines, however, is found in the mouse genome, suggesting a rapid evolution of the chemokine system in mammalian genomes. Thus, there are lineage and even individual-specific differences in chemokine genes in mammals. Differences in the expression and function between even recently duplicated genes are also evident. In this review, we discuss how evolutionary events such as gene duplication and gene conversion have shaped the diverse arrays of chemokines in mammalian genomes.
Nomiyama
Hisayuki
H
Department of Molecular Enzymology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Kumamoto University, Honjo, Kumamoto 860-8556, Japan. nomiyama@gpo.kumamoto-u.ac.jp
Osada
Naoki
N
Yoshie
Osamu
O
D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D018925:Chemokines / Q000235:genetics*; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005785:Gene Conversion; D020440:Gene Duplication; D016678:Genome; D015894:Genome, Human; D006801:Humans; D008322:Mammals / Q000235:genetics*; D051379:Mice; D009626:Terminology as Topic
D018925:Chemokines