Diversity of the Immunoglobulin Gene Superfamily
1989; Elsevier BV; Linguagem: Inglês
10.1016/s0065-2776(08)60639-2
ISSN1557-8445
Autores Tópico(s)Glycosylation and Glycoproteins Research
ResumoThe physical nature and organization of particular genetic information establish the limits and possibilities of its variation. The multigene organization and recombinogenic nature of much of the family establishes particular diversifying potentialities on many of the members. New functional possibilities arise primarily through the duplication of the various informational units involved, for example, nucleotides, exons, genes, and entire multigene families. Duplication of a multigene family and the attendant cis-acting control mechanisms can in a single event create the genetic basis of a complex new phenotype, suggesting the possibility of rapid evolutionary change. Interestingly, the number of the identified single-gene IgGSF members that are expressed in both the brain and the immune system suggests the possibility of shared cell surface recognition functions and that the related molecules may be involved in some of the intriguing phenomena linking the mental states and immune response. It seems likely that the fruitful strategies of somatic diversification, employed by well-characterized members of the IgGSF, will also be used by other receptor families, perhaps involved in the morphogenesis or neuronal development.
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