Tollip or not Tollip: what are the evolving questions behind it?
Tollip plays an important role in the interleukin-1 receptor IL-1R and Toll pathways. As a modulator of the immune pathway, it indirectly controls the amount of antimicrobial peptides. This could indicate a vital step in maintaining animal immune systems and preventing infection. Evolutionary questions are crucial to understanding the conservation and functioning of the biochemical pathways like the Tollip-mediated one. Through an analysis of 36 sequences of the Tollip protein from different animal taxa, downloaded from Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) databank, we inferred diverse evolutionary parameters, such as molecular selection and structure conservation, by analyzing residue by residue, beyond the canonical parameters to this type of study, as maximum likelihood trees. We found that Tollip presented different trends in its evolving history. In primates, the protein is becoming more unstable, just the opposite is observed in the arthropod group. The most interesting finding was the concentration of positively selected residues at amino terminal ends. Some observed topological incongruences in maximum likelihood trees of complete and curated Tollip data sets could be explained through horizontal transfers, evidenced by recombination detection. These results suggest that there is more to be researched and understood about this protein.
Genetics Laboratory, Genetics and Biochemistry Institute, Federal University of Uberlandia - UFU, Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
Denis Prudencio
DP
Luiz
Genetics Laboratory, Genetics and Biochemistry Institute, Federal University of Uberlandia - UFU, Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
Célio Dias
CD
Santos Júnior
Genetics Laboratory, Genetics and Biochemistry Institute, Federal University of Uberlandia - UFU, Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
Ana Maria
AM
Bonetti
Genetics Laboratory, Genetics and Biochemistry Institute, Federal University of Uberlandia - UFU, Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
Malcom Antônio Manfredi
MA
Brandeburgo
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D030541:Databases, Genetic; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D011323:Primates / Q000235:genetics
D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins