Abstract
Pattern recognition receptors are crucial in initiating and shaping innate and adaptive immune responses and often belong to families of structurally and evolutionarily related proteins. The human C-type lectin-like receptors encoded in the DECTIN-1 cluster within the NK gene complex contain prominent receptors with pattern recognition function, such as DECTIN-1 and LOX-1. All members of this cluster share significant homology and are considered to have arisen from subsequent gene duplications. Recent developments in sequencing and the availability of comprehensive sequence data comprising many species showed that the receptors of the DECTIN-1 cluster are not only homologous to each other but also highly conserved between species. Even in Caenorhabditis elegans, genes displaying homology to the mammalian C-type lectin-like receptors have been detected. In this paper, we conduct a comprehensive phylogenetic survey and give an up-to-date overview of the currently available data on the evolutionary emergence of the DECTIN-1 cluster genes.
Highlights
C-Type Lectin-Like ReceptorsReceptors on the surface of immune cells, which bind to molecular patterns common to certain classes of pathogens, such as components of bacterial or fungal cell walls, play a crucial part in the immediate innate immune response to these pathogens as well as in shaping and regulating the subsequent adaptive immune response
Pattern recognition receptors are crucial in initiating and shaping innate and adaptive immune responses and often belong to families of structurally and evolutionarily related proteins
Similar to the Toll-like receptors, other pattern recognition receptors such as certain C-type lectin-like receptors are structurally and evolutionarily related members of protein families, which have arisen from gene duplication and expansion due to the high evolutionary pressure applied by pathogens [4,5,6]
Summary
Receptors on the surface of immune cells, which bind to molecular patterns common to certain classes of pathogens, such as components of bacterial or fungal cell walls, play a crucial part in the immediate innate immune response to these pathogens as well as in shaping and regulating the subsequent adaptive immune response. C-type lectin receptors were originally defined by their carbohydrate-binding function, which enables them to bind to complex oligosaccharides displayed on various biological structures such as cell surfaces, circulating proteins, and extracellular matrices. By binding to these structures, C-type lectins mediate a variety of crucial cellular processes including cell adhesion, serum glycoprotein turnover and quick innate-type immune responses to potential pathogens [7]. At the telomeric side of the NKG2 gene cluster a subfamily of genes expressed in different myeloid as well as nonimmune cell types rather than on NK cells has been identified [16, 17] This cluster has originally been termed myeloid cluster of the NKC [16, 17] and is referred to as DECTIN-1 cluster. We and others have identified and characterized the additional C-type lectin-like receptors CLEC9A and CLEC12B, which belong to the DECTIN-1 subfamily of this region [19,20,21]
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