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Review
. 2010 Feb;22(1):3-9.
doi: 10.1016/j.smim.2009.11.005. Epub 2009 Dec 8.

Those other mammals: the immunoglobulins and T cell receptors of marsupials and monotremes

Robert D Miller  1
Affiliations
Review

Those other mammals: the immunoglobulins and T cell receptors of marsupials and monotremes

Robert D Miller. Semin Immunol. 2010 Feb.

Abstract

This review summarizes analyses of marsupial and monotreme immunoglobulin and T cell receptor genetics and expression published over the past decade. Analyses of recently completed whole genome sequences from the opossum and the platypus have yielded insight into the evolution of the common antigen receptor systems, as well as discovery of novel receptors that appear to have been lost in eutherian mammals. These species are also useful for investigation of the development of the immune system in organisms notable for giving birth to highly altricial young, as well as the evolution of maternal immunity through comparison of oviparous and viviparous mammals.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Graphic representing the relationships of the three living lineages of mammals. Timing of divergence points based on work of Bininda-Emonds et al. [1].
Figure 2
Figure 2
Diagram of a representative opossum TCRμ cluster based on the M. domestica genome assembly [4,31] and a hypothetical platypus TCRμ locus interpreted from available genomic and cDNA data.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Schematic of the predicted TCRμ chains from marsupials and monotremes. Shading corresponds to that shown in Figure 2. Variable domains encoded by exons that undergo somatic V(D)J recombination are shaded with polka-dots. V domains encoded by exons where the V, D and J segments are pre-joined in the germ-line are shaded with horizontal stripes. Hypothetical chains shaded gray represent the unknown partners for TCRμ.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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