Siddle Katherine J, Quintana-Murci Lluis
Unit of Human Evolutionary Genetics, Department of Genomes and Genetics, Institut Pasteur, Paris 75015, France; CNRS URA3012, Paris 75015, France.
Unit of Human Evolutionary Genetics, Department of Genomes and Genetics, Institut Pasteur, Paris 75015, France; CNRS URA3012, Paris 75015, France.
Curr Opin Genet Dev. 2014 Dec;29:31-8. doi: 10.1016/j.gde.2014.07.004. Epub 2014 Aug 24.
Pathogens, and the infectious diseases they cause, have been paramount among the threats encountered by humans in their expansions throughout the globe. Numerous studies have identified immunity and host defence genes as being among the functions most strongly targeted by selection, most likely pathogen-driven. The dissection of the form and intensity of such selective pressures have increased our knowledge of the biological relevance of the underlying immunological mechanisms in host defence. Although the identities of the specific infectious agents imposing these selective pressures remain, in most cases, elusive, the impact of several pathogens, notably malaria and cholera, has been described. However, past selection against infectious diseases may have some fitness costs upon environmental changes, potentially leading to maladaptation and immunopathology.
病原体及其引发的传染病，在人类向全球扩张过程中所面临的诸多威胁中一直占据首要位置。众多研究已确定免疫和宿主防御基因是受选择作用影响最为强烈的功能之一，极有可能是由病原体驱动的。对这种选择压力的形式和强度进行剖析，增进了我们对宿主防御中潜在免疫机制生物学相关性的认识。尽管在大多数情况下，施加这些选择压力的具体感染因子的身份仍不明确，但已描述了几种病原体的影响，尤其是疟疾和霍乱。然而，过去针对传染病的选择可能在环境变化时带来一些适应性代价，有可能导致适应不良和免疫病理。
