| First Author | Shanahan MT | Year | 2011 |
| Journal | Infect Immun | Volume | 79 |
| Issue | 1 | Pages | 459-73 |
| PubMed ID | 21041494 | Mgi Jnum | J:167061 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:4867114 | Doi | 10.1128/IAI.00996-10 |
| Citation | Shanahan MT, et al. (2011) Strain-specific polymorphisms in Paneth cell alpha-defensins of C57BL/6 mice and evidence of vestigial myeloid alpha-defensin pseudogenes. Infect Immun 79(1):459-73 |
| abstractText | Paneth cells at the base of small intestinal crypts secrete microbicidal alpha-defensins, termed cryptdins (Crps) in mice, as mediators of innate immunity. Proteomic studies show that five abundant Paneth cell alpha-defensins in C57BL/6 mice are strain specific in that they have not been identified in other inbred strains of mice. Two C57BL/6-specific peptides are coded for by the Defcr20 and -21 genes evident in the NIH C57BL/6 genome but absent from the Celera mixed-strain assembly, which excludes C57BL/6 data and differs from the NIH build with respect to the organization of the alpha-defensin gene locus. Conversely, C57BL/6 mice lack the Crp1, -2, -4, and -6 peptides and their corresponding Defcr1, -2, -4, and -6 genes, which are common to several mouse strains, including those of the Celera assembly. In C57BL/6 mice, alpha-defensin gene diversification appears to have occurred by tandem duplication of a multigene cassette that was not found in the mixed-strain assembly. Both mouse genome assemblies contain conserved alpha-defensin pseudogenes that are closely related to functional myeloid alpha-defensin genes in the rat, suggesting that the neutrophil alpha-defensin defect in mice resulted from progressive gene loss. Given the role of alpha-defensins in shaping the composition of the enteric microflora, such polymorphisms may influence outcomes in mouse models of disease or infection. |
