The immune modules conserved across the tree of life: Towards a definition of ancestral immunity
Aude Bernheim,
Jean Cury,
Enzo Z. Poirier
Abstract:Immune defence mechanisms exist across the tree of life in such diversity that prokaryotic antiviral responses have historically been considered unrelated to eukaryotic immunity. Mechanisms of defence in divergent eukaryotes were similarly believed to be largely clade specific. However, recent data indicate that a subset of modules (domains and proteins) from prokaryote defence systems are conserved in eukaryotes and populate many stages of innate immune pathways. In this Essay, we propose the notion of ancest… Show more
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