| First Author | Patil AA | Year | 2005 |
| Journal | Physiol Genomics | Volume | 23 |
| Issue | 1 | Pages | 5-17 |
| PubMed ID | 16033865 | Mgi Jnum | J:101568 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:3604271 | Doi | 10.1152/physiolgenomics.00104.2005 |
| Citation | Patil AA, et al. (2005) Cross-species analysis of the mammalian beta-defensin gene family: presence of syntenic gene clusters and preferential expression in the male reproductive tract. Physiol Genomics 23(1):5-17 |
| abstractText | Mammalian beta-defensins are an important family of innate host defense peptides with pleiotropic activities. As a first step to study the evolutionary relationship and biological role of the beta-defensin family, we identified their complete repertoires in the human, chimpanzee, mouse, rat, and dog following systemic, genome-wide computational searches. Although most beta-defensin genes are composed of two exons separated by an intron of variable length, some contain an additional one or two exons encoding an internal pro-sequence, a segment of carboxy-terminal mature sequences or untranslated regions. Alternatively, spliced isoforms have also been found with several beta-defensins. Furthermore, all beta-defensin genes are densely clustered in four to five syntenic chromosomal regions, with each cluster spanning <1.2 Mb across the five species. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that, although the majority of beta-defensins are evolutionarily conserved across species, subgroups of gene lineages exist that are specific in certain species, implying that some beta-defensins originated after divergence of these mammals from each other, while most others arose before the last common ancestor of mammals. Surprisingly, RT-PCR revealed that all but one rat beta-defensin transcript are preferentially expressed in the male reproductive tract, particularly in epididymis and testis, except that Defb4, a human beta-defensin-2 ortholog, is more restricted to the respiratory and upper gastrointestinal tracts. Moreover, most beta-defensins expressed in the reproductive tract are developmentally regulated, with enhanced expression during sexual maturation. Existence of such a vast array of beta-defensins in the male reproductive tract suggests that these genes may play a dual role in both fertility and host defense. |
