Sex and suicide: The curious case of Toll-like receptors.

Autor: Navarro-Costa PA; Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência, Oeiras, Portugal.; Instituto de Saúde Ambiental, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal., Molaro A; Division of Basic Sciences, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Washington, United States of America., Misra CS; Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência, Oeiras, Portugal.; Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica, Oeiras, Portugal., Meiklejohn CD; School of Biological Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska, United States of America., Ellis PJ; School of Biosciences, University of Kent, Canterbury, United Kingdom.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: PLoS biology [PLoS Biol] 2020 Mar 23; Vol. 18 (3), pp. e3000663. Date of Electronic Publication: 2020 Mar 23 (Print Publication: 2020).
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3000663
Abstrakt: During in vitro fertilisation (IVF), pharmacological activation of the murine X chromosome-encoded receptor proteins Toll-like receptor (TLR) 7 and TLR8 reportedly results in male-biased litters by selectively disrupting the motility of X-bearing sperm cells. Thus-in the context of agonist treatment during IVF-these receptors act as 'suicidal' segregation distorters that impair their own transmission to the next generation. Such behaviour would, from an evolutionary perspective, be strongly selected against if present during natural fertilisation. Consequently, TLR7/8 biology in vivo must differ significantly from this in vitro situation to allow these genes to persist in the genome. Here, we use our current understanding of male germ cell biology and TLR function as a starting point to explore the mechanistic and evolutionary aspects of this apparent paradox.
Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
Databáze: MEDLINE
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