An evolutionary medicine perspective on the cetacean pulmonary immune system — The first identification of SP-D and LBP in the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus)

Abstract

Evolutionary medicine expresses the present status of biomolecules affected by past evolutionary events. To clarify the whole picture of cetacean pneumonia, which is a major threat to cetaceans, their pulmonary immune system should be studied from the perspective of evolutionary medicine. In this in silico study, we focused on cetacean surfactant protein D (SP-D) and lipopolysaccharide-binding protein (LBP) as two representative molecules of the cetacean pulmonary immune system. Sequencing and analyzing SP-D and LBP in the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) lung and liver tissue collected post-mortem elucidated not only basic physicochemical properties but also their evolutionary background. This is the first study to report the sequences and expression of SP-D and LBP in the bottlenose dolphin. Besides, our findings also suggest the direction of an evolutionary arms race in the cetacean pulmonary immune system. These results have important positive implications for cetacean clinical medicine.