Abstract
Sialic acids, a group of acidic sugars abundantly expressed in the tissues of deuterostome animals but rarely found in microbes, serve as a “signature of self” for these animals. Cognate sensors for sialic acids include Siglecs, a family of transmembrane lectins of vertebrate immune systems that recognize glycans containing sialic acids. A type of sialic acid called N-glycolylneuraminic acid (Neu5Gc) is abundant in many mammalian lineages including great apes, the closest extant relatives of modern human, but was lost in the lineage leading to modern human via the pseudogenization of the CMAH gene encoding the enzyme that converts N-acetylneuraminic acid (Neu5Ac) to Neu5Gc. Loss of Neu5Gc appears to have influenced the evolution of human Siglecs, such as the adjustment of sialic acid binding preferences and the inactivation of at least one Siglec. In addition, various mechanistic studies using model systems and genetic association studies have revealed that some human Siglecs interact with pathogens and influence the outcome of infections, and these pathogens in turn likely influence the evolution of these Siglecs. By understanding the evolutionary forces affecting Siglecs, we shall achieve a better appreciation of Siglec functions, and by understanding Siglec functions, we can obtain deeper insight into the evolutionary processes driving Siglec evolution.
Introduction
The role of immunity is to distinguish self vs. non-self (or what is not dangerous vs. dangerous) and to eliminate or contain the latter. Various biomolecules (nucleotides, peptides, lipids, polysaccharides, and their combinations) can be a signature of non-self (i.e., pathogen-associated molecular patterns; PAMPs), as exemplified by the diversity of ligands for Toll-like receptors, C-type lectin-like receptors, RIG-I-like receptors, and NOD-like receptors, all of which work as “pattern-recognition receptors” (–). Meanwhile, the signature of self (i.e., self-associated molecular patterns; SAMPs) is less well-understood, but some glycoconjugates would qualify as such (, ). Sialic acids are commonly synthesized by deuterostome animals and displayed on the cell surface in abundance but are rare in microbes (), making them an ideal SAMP for distinguishing self- vs. non-self (, ).
For a chemical entity to be a molecular signature of self or non-self for the immune system, there must be a sensor that recognizes it. For sialic acids, Siglecs appear to be the primary pattern-recognition receptors (–). Siglec is a composite word from “sialic acid,” “immunoglobulin (Ig) superfamily,” and “lectins” (). The Siglec family appears to be present only in vertebrates (, ). Siglecs are type 1 transmembrane proteins, with an extracellular domain consisting of multiple Ig-like domains (of which the N-terminal Ig-like domain is primarily responsible for the recognition of sialoglycans), followed by a single-pass transmembrane domain and cytoplasmic tail (Figure 1). Most of the known mammalian Siglecs are expressed on leukocytes and have an intracellular sequence motif called the immunoreceptor tyrosine-based inhibitory motif (ITIM) that recruits tyrosine phosphatase SHP-1 and thus transduces inhibitory signals. Thus, they are considered to function as sensors for sialic acids as a molecular signature of self. [However, there are some examples that imply this generalization may be somewhat too simplistic (, ).]. Although rodents are essential model animals for mechanistic studies in immunology, differences in primate and rodent CD33-related Siglecs () impose a significant challenge in the extrapolation of findings in rodents to human immunology. This situation parallels that of other immunoglobulin-like receptor families, leukocyte immunoglobulin-like receptors (LILR) and killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIR), that are encoded in a gene cluster on the same human chromosomal region as CD33-related Siglecs (chromosome 19q13.4) and are involved in self-recognition through interaction with MHC class I (–).
Figure 1
“Sialic acids” is a collective term for various naturally occurring acidic sugars with a common nine-carbon backbone (
One possible consequence of Neu5Gc loss in human (and a possible response to the consequential autoimmune-prone state, in the evolutionary time scale) was a series of changes involving Neu5Gc-specific Siglecs, such as re-adjustment of binding specificity to Neu5Ac and “forced retirement,” as explained in the following section.
Possible Influences of Neu5Gc Loss on Human Siglecs: Altered Binding Specificities
To understand the consequences of a species-specific event, it is natural to compare the phenotypes between the closest relatives that have undergone the event or have not. For human, the obvious choice is great apes including chimpanzee, which is the closest extant relative of modern human. Several earlier studies have shown that at least some great ape Siglecs preferentially recognize Neu5Gc (
Table 1
| Siglec | Human preference | Chimpanzee preference | Human-specific changes in Ig1 and Ig2* | Chimpanzee-specific changes in Ig1 and Ig2* | References** |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sialoadhesin/Siglec-1 | Ac >> Gc | ND | 1, 1 | 1, 0 | ( |
| CD22/Siglec-2 | Ac ≈ Gc | Ac ≈ Gc | 2, 0 | 2, 0 | ( |
| CD33/Siglec-3 | Ac < Gc (weak preference) | Ac < Gc (weak preference) | 2.5, 2 | 5.5, 0 | ( |
| MAG/Siglec-4 | ND | ND | 0, 1 | 0, 0 | [for the glycan preference of rodent MAG, see ( |
| Siglec-5 | Ac < Gc (weak preference) | X (Arg mut) | 7.5, 2 | 5.5, 1 | ( |
| Siglec-6 | Ac < Gc | ND | 0, 1 | 3, 0 | ( |
| Siglec-7 | Ac ≈ Gc | Ac < Gc | 1.5, 0 | 3.5, 0 | ( |
| Siglec-8 | ND | ND | 0.5, 2 | 1.5, 3 | [for the glycan preference of human Siglec-8, see ( |
| Siglec-9 | Ac > Gc (weak preference) | Ac < Gc (weak preference) | 4, 0 | 3, 1 | ( |
| Siglec-10 | Ac < Gc | ND | 0, 1 | 2, 1 | (Consortium for Functional Glycomics data) |
| Siglec-11 | Ac < Gc | Ac < Gc | 2.5, 1 | 2.5, 0 | ( |
| Siglec-12 | X (Arg mut) | Ac < < Gc | 2, 2 | 1, 3 | ( |
| Siglec-13 | X (absent) | Ac ≈ Gc | (Cannot be determined) | (Cannot be determined) | (45) |
| Siglec-14 | ND (likely Ac < Gc, from Siglec-5 data) | X (Arg mut) | 6.5, 1 | 4.5, 1 | ( |
| Siglec-15 | Ac > Gc | ND (Ac > Gc) | 2, 1 | 0, 1 | Unpublished |
| Siglec-16 | Ac > Gc | Ac < Gc | 1.5, 0 | 5.5, 3 | ( |
Binding preferences (Neu5Ac vs. Neu5Gc) and lineage-specific mutations in human and chimpanzee Siglecs.
ND, not determined; X, cannot be determined (either the protein is absent in the species or is present but does not recognize sialic acid owing to the mutation of essential Arg residue); >> or <<, strong preference; > or <, preference; ≈, no preference; Arg mut: mutation of arginine residue that is essential for sialic acid recognition. Sialic acid (Ac, Neu5Ac; Gc, Neu5Gc) preferentially recognized by each Siglec is highlighted with underline and bold typeface.
The numbers of human- and chimpanzee-specific amino acid changes were deduced by aligning the amino acid sequences of Siglec orthologs from human, chimpanzee, and orangutan. In case the lineage specificity of the amino acid change cannot be unambiguously determined (i.e., when the amino acid at one position was different in all three species), ”0.5 difference“ was assigned to both human and chimpanzee. For Siglec-12 with two V-set domains, amino acid changes in the N-terminal V-set domain (Ig1) were counted as those in ”Ig1,“ and those in the first C2-set domain (Ig3) were counted as those in ”Ig2.“ Note that the ”species-specific changes“ were counted based on a reference sequence of human Siglecs and ”best hit” putative protein sequences in chimpanzee and orangutan by BLASTP search, without considering the polymorphisms in each species.
The majority of the references in this table are reports that directly compare human and chimpanzee Siglec binding preferences. Note that different methods for analyzing Siglec–glycan interactions, such as glycan microarray vs. polymer-based probe binding, or even between different formats of glycan microarrays, may yield results that are not fully consistent in some cases.
One Siglec that may have been substantially affected by the loss of Neu5Gc in the human ancestor is Siglec-12 (
Primate Siglec-9 (from chimpanzee, gorilla, and baboon) also prefers Neu5Gc, whereas human Siglec-9 appears to have acquired affinity toward Neu5Ac (
In fact, the CD33-related Siglec gene cluster is among the most rapidly diversifying gene families between human and chimpanzee (56), and the N-terminal Ig-like domain of CD33-related ape Siglecs is evolving faster than the other parts of the molecule (
It is of note that, in contrast to the adaptation of some human Siglecs to Neu5Ac-dominant sialome, many Siglecs still appear to prefer Neu5Gc (Table 1). Possible explanations for this fact may include: (1) the adaptation of human Siglecs to Neu5Ac-dominant sialome is still incomplete, and over the time (in the scale of millions of years) most human Siglecs will eventually acquire Neu5Ac preference; (2) some Siglecs did not have strong preference toward Neu5Gc over Neu5Ac prior to the loss of Neu5Gc in human ancestor, or have already accumulated mutations to make them sufficiently suitable for Neu5Ac recognition, thus it is not necessary for them to adapt further to Neu5Ac-dominant sialome; (3) the interaction of Siglecs with exogenous ligands (e.g., bacterial nonulosonic acids) prevent complete switch from Neu5Gc to Neu5Ac preference. Although these explanations are purely speculative, some of these scenarios may be tested experimentally. For example, an independent event has eliminated Neu5Gc in the lineage leading to New World monkeys approximately 30 million years ago (58). In contrast, the timing of Neu5Gc loss in human is far more recent, which is estimated to be 3 million years ago (
Possible Influences of Neu5Gc Loss on Human Siglecs: Altered Expression Patterns
It is of interest to know whether there is any change in the expression patterns of Siglecs between human and chimpanzee, which might also represent a consequence of Neu5Gc loss in human. Antibody-based comparative analyses of Siglec expression patterns in human and chimpanzee (and gorilla) have revealed several examples of altered expression of Siglecs in human, as summarized in Table 2. Naturally, it is more difficult to establish the influence of the loss of Neu5Gc on the expression patterns of Siglecs than its effect on the binding preferences of Siglecs, as it is indirect. Nevertheless, it appears to be implied in some cases.
Table 2
| Siglec | Human | Chimpanzee | References |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sialoadhesin/Siglec-1 | Mac | Mac (broader) | ( |
| CD22/Siglec-2 | B | B (mRNA) | ( |
| CD33/Siglec-3 | Mono, Mac (broader), Microglia | Mono, Mac, Microglia | ( |
| MAG/Siglec-4 | Schwann cells, Oligodendroglia | (Myelin) | (59, 60) |
| Siglec-5 | Neutro, Mac (broader), B (low), amniotic epithelium | Neutro, Mac, T, B | ( |
| Siglec-6 | B, DC subset, placenta | B | (64) |
| Siglec-7 | NK, Mono, Mast, Neutro, Baso, Platelets, T (subset) | ND | (65–70) |
| Siglec-8 | Eosino, Baso, Mast | ND | (71, 72) |
| Siglec-9 | Neutro, Mono, Mac (broader) | Neutro, Mono, Mac | ( |
| Siglec-10 | B, Mono, DC | ND | (73, 74) |
| Siglec-11 | Mac, Microglia, ovarian fibroblasts | Mac, ovarian fibroblasts | ( |
| Siglec-12 | Mac, lumenal epithelia | Mac, lumenal epithelia | ( |
| Siglec-13 | X (absent) | Mono | (45) |
| Siglec-14 | Neutro, Mono, amniotic epithelium | Neutro (& Mono?) | (62, 63) |
| Siglec-15 | OC, Mac subset | ND | (78, 79, 80, 81) |
| Siglec-16 | Mac, Microglia | Mac | ( |
Expression patterns of human and chimpanzee Siglecs.
Mac, macrophage; Mono, monocytes; B, B cells; T, T cells; NK, natural killer cells; Mast, mast cells; Neutro, neutrophils; Eosino, eosinophils; Baso, basophils; DC, dendritic cells; OC, osteoclasts; ND, not determined.
*Tissue/cell type that showed clear difference in Siglec expression between human and chimpanzee are highlighted with underline and bold typeface. Reports that directly compared human and chimpanzee Siglec expression patterns are primarily cited in this table. For human Siglecs, expression in the cell types not listed in the table are also reported, such as: CD22/Siglec-2 on basophils (83); CD33/Siglec-3 on mast cells (84), basophils and neutrophils (low) (85); Siglec-6 on mast cells (86); Siglec-9 on T cell subset (68) and NK cell subset (55). Note that the expression of Siglec-6 on human B cells is restricted to CD27+ memory B cells (87). Tumor-infiltrating T cells express several human Siglecs, including CD33/Siglec-3, Sigec-5, Siglec-7, Siglec-9, and Siglec-10 (88).
The first reported example of altered expression of Siglec in human compared with chimpanzee was the wider distribution of Sialoadhesin/Siglec-1+ macrophages in chimpanzee spleen as compared with those in human spleen (
One of the most striking changes in Siglec expression patterns in the human immune system is the near-complete absence of Siglec-5 on human T cells, in contrast to its prominent expression on chimpanzee and gorilla T cells (61, 62). The loss of Siglec-5 from human T cells appears to be correlated with the relative hyper-activation of human T cells in response to various stimuli compared with those from other great apes. [Although Siglec-5 and Siglec-14 show extremely high sequence similarity at the extracellular domain, one study (62) used a combination of antibodies that distinguish Siglec-5 and Siglec-14 to demonstrate that Siglec-5 is expressed on chimpanzee T cells]. However, it is not clear whether the loss of Siglec-5 on human T cells has a causative relationship with the loss of Neu5Gc, as human Siglec-5 does not show strong preference for either Neu5Ac or Neu5Gc (
Siglec-11 and Siglec-16 also have undergone unique changes in their expression patterns in humans. Whereas, human Siglec-11 and Siglec-16 are expressed on brain microglia and tissue macrophages, chimpanzee Siglec-11 and Siglec-16 appear to be absent on microglia (but present on tissue macrophages) (
Siglec-6 was also reported to show different expression patterns between human and chimpanzee. Both human and chimpanzee Siglec-6 are expressed on B cells, whereas its expression on placental trophoblasts is observed only in humans (64). This altered expression is thought to be associated with the sequence change in the promoter region and transcription factor binding (64).
There are some reports of the presence of Siglec ligands in human tissues that are absent in chimpanzee tissues (64, 76). Although the exact nature of these ligands has not been identified, these findings imply that the difference in Siglec ligand expression patterns beyond the absence/presence of Neu5Gc may exist between human and chimpanzee and may also contribute to the rapid evolution of the Siglec family (particularly at Ig1) and/or their altered expression patterns.
An Alternative Driving Force Behind Siglec Evolution: Interaction With Microbes
Given that Ig1 of Siglecs (particularly that of CD33-related Siglecs) is undergoing rapid evolution (57), and not all of this may be attributed to the changing endogenous ligand landscape, there is likely an alternative driving force behind their rapid evolution. Obviously, one such force could be microbial pathogens that engage Siglecs. Indeed, recent studies have provided evidence that many Siglecs are involved in the interaction with various pathogenic microbes [for recent reviews, see (92, 93)]. These microbes include viruses, bacteria, and eukaryotic pathogens (Table 3). Many of them cover themselves with sialic acids (either by de novo biosynthesis or by “salvage” from the human body by various mechanisms), which may be considered examples of “molecular mimicry” by microbes.
Table 3
| Microbe | Microbial molecule involved | Human siglec involved | Outcome | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BACTERIA | ||||
| Neisseria meningitidis | Sialic acids on LPS | Sialoadhesin/Siglec-1 Siglec-5 | Enhanced binding and phagocytosis | (94) |
| Campylobacter jejuni | Sialic acids on LPS | Sialoadhesin/Siglec-1 Siglec-7 | Modulation of factors affecting helper T-cell differentiation | (95–97) |
| Pseudaminic acid on flagellin | Siglec-10 | Promote anti-inflammatory response | (74) | |
| Group B Streptococcus type III | Sialic acids on CPS | Siglec-9 | Attenuated immune responses | (98, 99) |
| Group B Streptococcus type Ia | β protein (Sia-independent) | Siglec-5 Siglec-14 | Siglec-5: Attenuated responses Siglec-14: Enhanced responses | (100, 63) |
| Siglec-13 (chimpanzee) | Attenuated response | (45) | ||
| Pseudomonas aeruginosa | Sialic acids on glycoproteins, adsorbed from human body fluid | Siglec-9 | Attenuated immune responses | (101) |
| Non-typeable Haemophilus influenzae | Sialic acids on LOS + Sia-independent interaction | Siglec-5 Siglec-14 | Siglec-5: Attenuated responses Siglec-14: Enhanced responses | (102) |
| Escherichia coli K1 strain | CPS (polysialic acids) | Siglec-11 Siglec-16 | Siglec-11: Attenuated responses Siglec-16: Enhanced responses | (75) |
| VIRUSES | ||||
| Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) | Sialic acids on gp120 envelope glycoprotein; host-derived gangliosides on envelope | Sialoadhesin/Siglec-1 Siglec-7 | Enhanced infection | (103–108) |
| Varicella zoster virus (VZV), herpes simplex virus (HSV) | Glycoprotein B (sialic acids required) | MAG/Siglec-4 | Enhanced infection | (109, 110) |
| EUKARYOTES | ||||
| Candida albicans | zymosan (?) | Siglec-7 | Enhanced immune responses | (111) |
| Leishmania donovani | Surface sialic acids | Sialoadhesin/Siglec-1 Siglec-5 | Enhanced infection | (112) |
Direct interaction of human Siglecs and microbes.
Updated from Angata and Varki (93).
The majority of the microbes reported to interact with Siglecs so far are bacteria (Table 3). This makes sense, as sialic acids (and sialic acid-like nonulosonic acids) are occasionally found in bacterial extracellular components, such as lipopolysaccharides/lipooligosaccharides (LPS/LOS), capsular polysaccharides (CPS), and flagella. For example, group B streptococcus (GBS) type III interacts with Siglec-9 through sialylated CPS and dampens inflammatory responses by neutrophils (98), whereas GBS type Ia engages Siglec-5 by β-protein and also suppresses inflammatory responses of myeloid cells (100). It should be noted that the latter case does not involve sialic acids. Similarly, non-typeable Haemophilus influenzae, an opportunistic airway pathogen, engages Siglec-5 and attenuates pro-inflammatory cytokine production by myeloid cells (102), and Escherichia coli K1 strain, a neurotropic pathogen, engages Siglec-11 and escape killing (75). Siglecs are likely under pressure to escape the exploitation by these pathogens, which may partially explain the driving force behind their rapid evolution.
It appears that Siglecs were not just escaping from these pathogens; they appear to have developed “counter-traps” against these pathogens. Some Siglecs (i.e., Siglec-5 and Siglec-14; Siglec-11 and Siglec-16) are found to be “paired receptors,” which are two Siglecs with highly homologous extracellular domains recognizing similar ligands, combined with intracellular signaling modules transducing opposing signals (i.e., one of the pair interacts with SHP-1 and transduces the inhibitory signal, whereas the other interacts with adapter protein DAP12 and tyrosine kinase Syk and transduces the activating signal). In fact, whereas the engagement of inhibitory Siglec by pathogenic bacteria suppresses anti-bacterial responses, the engagement of activating Siglec counteracts this effect (75, 102, 63). It is of note that these “paired” Siglecs appear to show more sequence differences between human and chimpanzee than other “stand-alone” Siglecs (Table 1), possibly implying that these Siglecs are under higher selective pressure to diversify than are other Siglecs. These paired Siglecs are undergoing concerted evolution through repeated gene conversions (
Evidence supporting the relevance of these interactions between Siglecs and bacterial pathogens in infectious diseases is emerging from genetic association studies (Table 4). Small-scale case–control studies investigating the possible correlations between the polymorphisms of SIGLEC genes and infectious disease susceptibility have revealed some correlations, such as SIGLEC14 null polymorphism and COPD exacerbation (102), pre-term delivery in the presence of GBS (63), Mycobacterium tuberculosis meningitis (138), and SIGLEC9 polymorphism and COPD exacerbation (133). In addition, large-scale genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have also revealed possible associations between SIGLEC polymorphisms and infectious diseases, such as SIGLEC5 polymorphism and leprosy (129) and severe periodontitis (128), although these GWAS did not demonstrate a direct interaction between the etiological agents and Siglec protein. Some SIGLEC genetic polymorphisms appear to influence the leukocyte counts (142); thus it is possible that the influence of SIGLEC genetic polymorphisms on antibacterial defense may be indirect. Regardless, the application of GWAS to infectious diseases may further reveal the relevance of Siglecs for immunological defense against bacterial pathogens.
Table 4
| Gene | Polymorphism | Associated phenotype | References |
|---|---|---|---|
| SIGLEC1 | rs656635, rs609203, rs3859664, rs4813636 (SNPs in intron or 3'UTR) | Lung function | (114) |
| SIGLEC1 | rs6037651 (nonsynonymous SNP) | Serum IgM level | (115) |
| CD22 | rs34826052 (synonymous SNP) | Limited cutaneous systemic sclerosis | (116) |
| CD22 | rs4805119 etc. (intronic SNP) | B-precursor leukemia | (117, 118) |
| CD33 | rs3865444 (promoter SNP) rs12459419 (nonsynonymous SNP, influencing splicing) | Late-onset Alzheimer's disease | (119–122) |
| CD33 | rs35112940, rs12459419 (nonsynonymous SNPs) | Efficiency of antibody therapy in pediatric acute myeloid leukemia | (123, 124) |
| MAG | rs720309 (intronic SNP) rs7249617 (intronic SNP) | Schizophrenia | (125, 126) (127) |
| SIGLEC5 | rs4284742 (intronic SNP) | Periodontitis | (128) |
| SIGLEC5 | rs10414149 (intronic SNP) | Leprosy | (129) |
| SIGLEC6 | rs2305772 (non-synonymous SNP, influencing splicing) | Systemic lupus erythematosus | (130) |
| SIGLEC8 | rs36498 (promoter SNP) rs10409962 (nonsynonymous SNP) | Allergic asthma | (131) |
| SIGLEC9 | rs16988910 (nonsynonymous SNP) | Short-term survival of lung cancer patients; Emphysema | (132) |
| SIGLEC9 | rs2075803, rs2258983 (nonsynonymous SNP) | COPD exacerbation | (133) |
| SIGLEC11 | rs12165127 (intronic SNP) | Lung cancer in never-smokers | (134) |
| SIGLEC12 | rs16982743 (stop codon generated) | Cardiovascular outcomes in patients with hypertension on antihypertensive therapy | (135) |
| SIGLEC12 | rs3752135 (nonsynonymous SNP) | Stress fracture | (136) |
| SIGLEC14 | rs10412972, rs11084102 (upstream SNPs) | Plasma plasminogen level | (137) |
| SIGLEC14 | SIGLEC14-SIGLEC5 fusion (SIGLEC14 deletion) | COPD exacerbation | (102) |
| SIGLEC14 | SIGLEC14-SIGLEC5 fusion (SIGLEC14 deletion) | Pre-term delivery in the presence of GBS infection | (63) |
| SIGLEC14 | SIGLEC14-SIGLEC5 fusion (SIGLEC14 deletion) | Mycobacterium tuberculosis meningitis | (138) |
| Various | Various | Plasma protein levels | (139, 140) |
| Various | Various | Cerebrospinal fluid protein levels | (141) |
| Various | Various | Blood cell counts | (142) |
Polymorphisms in human SIGLEC genes and association with disease/phenotype.
Updated from Angata (
Some of the studies listed above are small-scale case–control studies, whereas some others are large-scale genome-wide association studies (GWAS). Some of the associations listed are not prominently featured in the references cited but found in the GWAS catalog (https://www.ebi.ac.uk/gwas/).
With regard to viral pathogens, recent studies have revealed that Sialoadhesin/Siglec-1 (also known as CD169) may play a major role in retrovirus infection (103). For example, several groups have reported that human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) exploits Sialoadhesin/Siglec-1 to enhance infection of CD4+ T cells (the primary target cells) by trans-infection (i.e., the virus particle is captured by macrophages with Sialoadhesin/Siglec-1, which transfers the virus to CD4+ T cells and facilitates the infection) (104–107). Although a rare “null” mutation in the SIGLEC1 gene was found not to protect carriers from HIV infection (144), the low frequency of this mutation (allele frequency: ~1.3% in Europeans) may preclude us from making a definitive conclusion (145). Given that Sialoadhesin/Siglec-1 appears to be involved in retroviral infection in both mouse and human (103), one may expect that it should evolve rapidly to avoid viral infections; however, Sialoadhesin/Siglec-1 does not appear to be evolving rapidly (Table 1). This may be because enveloped viruses are coated with a host-derived membrane (a part of “self”), and thus there is no way Sialoadhesin/Siglec-1 can evolve to completely evade such an interaction (unless the virus develops a protein that binds Sialoadhesin/Siglec-1 in sialic acid-independent manner). It is worth noting that myelin-associated glycoprotein (MAG)/Siglec-4, the other Siglec known to interact with another enveloped virus (109, 110), is also highly conserved among mammals, and in both cases sialic acids are required for the interaction between the virus and Siglecs (Table 3).
Conclusion and Perspectives
Cmah null mouse is a valuable tool for the investigation of the physiological roles of Neu5Gc and the short-term consequences of its loss, although it may not be a perfect model of modern human. Using this mouse model, it was shown that the expression of Neu5Gc itself makes T cells less responsive to stimulus, without any change in Siglec expression (146). Likewise, Neu5Gc appears to have a general suppressive effect on mouse monocyte/macrophage activities, without the apparent involvement of Siglecs (147). In line with these findings, the loss of Neu5Gc has had major influences on human biology that reach far beyond Siglecs (148), explaining some of the differences between human and our close relatives (e.g., chimpanzee) in pathophysiological phenotypes (149). Although Neu5Gc from dietary sources (in the form of meat or milk from the animals that express Neu5Gc) can be incorporated into human tissue glycoproteins and glycolipids (150), the level of Neu5Gc in human tissues tends to be low, accounting for <1% of total sialic acids (151). Given that the current set of human Siglecs lack a strong preference toward Neu5Gc, and the affinity between Siglecs and sialic acids tends to be low (Kd in ~mM range), this level of Neu5Gc in human tissues may not influence human physiology by way of Siglecs. The trace amount of Neu5Gc incorporated into human tissues may be more relevant to the bacterial toxins that specifically recognize Neu5Gc (152) and xeno-autoantibodies that recognize Neu5Gc (as discussed in other articles of this series). Regardless, the loss of Neu5Gc appears to have left some footprint on the evolution of human Siglecs, as discussed above.
The evolution of human Siglecs was also likely influenced by the interaction with microbes. A recent population genetics-based study implied that some Siglecs may have been subjected to population-specific hard selective sweeps, as judged by the presence of long-range linkage disequilibrium (153). These SIGLEC genes include SIGLEC8 and SIGLEC10 among Africans, SIGLEC5, SIGLEC6, SIGLEC12, and SIGLEC14 among Europeans, and CD22 and MAG among Asians. Although it remains speculative, the population-specific difference in the signatures of selection imply that the evolution of the Siglec family in the human population is an ongoing process, and different pathogen pressures are present in different geographical locations (or through different agricultural constraints, e.g., use of different domestic animals, which may carry different kinds of bacteria/viruses).
Many questions remain with regard to the function and evolution of Siglecs. For example, do viruses really target only conserved Siglecs and are they not relevant to the rapid evolution of Siglecs? What was or is the selective force behind the spread of “null” alleles of SIGLEC14 and SIGLEC16 (and perhaps others, such as SIGLEC1) in modern human populations? Do the bacteria that express sialic acid-like nonulosonic acids (154) generally engage Siglecs to modulate immune responses and thus play a role in the evolution of Siglecs? Does the interaction between Siglecs and commensal bacteria (e.g., normal gut microbiota) play any role in the modulation of immunity and the evolution of Siglecs? Some of these questions can be addressed experimentally and will deepen our understanding of the biology of Siglecs and sialic acids.
Statements
Author contributions
TA analyzed the literature and wrote the manuscript.
Acknowledgments
The author is grateful for supports from the Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan, and from Academia Sinica, Taiwan (MOST 104-2321-B-001-070, 105-2321-B-001-051, and 106-2321-B-001-032). I also thank the editors, Dr. Vered Padler-Karavani (Tel-Aviv University, Israel) for the invitation to contribute this review, and Dr. Jean-Paul Soulillou (Université de Nantes, France) for valuable comments.
Conflict of interest
The author declares that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
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Summary
Keywords
Siglec, sialic acid, Neu5Ac, Neu5Gc, immunity, microbes
Citation
Angata T (2018) Possible Influences of Endogenous and Exogenous Ligands on the Evolution of Human Siglecs. Front. Immunol. 9:2885. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2018.02885
Received
31 August 2018
Accepted
23 November 2018
Published
04 December 2018
Volume
9 - 2018
Edited by
Vered Padler-Karavani, Tel Aviv University, Israel
Reviewed by
Stephan von Gunten, University of Bern, Switzerland; Matthew S. Macauley, University of Alberta, Canada; Heinz Laubli, Universität Basel, Switzerland
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Copyright
© 2018 Angata.
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Takashi Angata angata@gate.sinica.edu.tw
This article was submitted to Nutritional Immunology, a section of the journal Frontiers in Immunology
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