Cited by 535Chromosomal and Genetic VariationsGenomic variations and chromosomal abnormalitiesPleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 29 of the 29 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Human-specific loss of regulatory DNA and the evolution of human-specific traits

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Abstract

Humans differ from other animals in many aspects of anatomy, physiology, and behaviour; however, the genotypic basis of most human-specific traits remains unknown. Recent whole-genome comparisons have made it possible to identify genes with elevated rates of amino acid change or divergent expression in humans, and non-coding sequences with accelerated base pair changes. Regulatory alterations may be particularly likely to produce phenotypic effects while preserving viability, and are known to underlie interesting evolutionary differences in other species. Here we identify molecular events particularly likely to produce significant regulatory changes in humans: complete deletion of sequences otherwise highly conserved between chimpanzees and other mammals. We confirm 510 such deletions in humans, which fall almost exclusively in non-coding regions and are enriched near genes involved in steroid hormone signalling and neural function. One deletion removes a sensory vibrissae and penile spine enhancer from the human androgen receptor (AR) gene, a molecular change correlated with anatomical loss of androgen-dependent sensory vibrissae and penile spines in the human lineage. Another deletion removes a forebrain subventricular zone enhancer near the tumour suppressor gene growth arrest and DNA-damage-inducible, gamma (GADD45G), a loss correlated with expansion of specific brain regions in humans. Deletions of tissue-specific enhancers may thus accompany both loss and gain traits in the human lineage, and provide specific examples of the kinds of regulatory alterations and inactivation events long proposed to have an important role in human evolutionary divergence.

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Crossref · 10.1038/nature09774

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  1. Dixson, A. F. Primate Sexuality (Oxford University Press, 1998)

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Metadata

Authors
McLean, C. Y., Reno, P. L., Pollen, A. A., Bassan, A. I., Capellini, T. D., Guenther, C., Indjeian, V. B., Lim, X., Menke, D. B., Schaar, B. T., Wenger, A. M., Bejerano, G., & Kingsley, D. M.
Affiliations
  • Stanford University (US)
  • Howard Hughes Medical Institute (US)
  • Stanford Medicine (US)
Corresponding author
  • Bejerano, Gill
  • Kingsley, David M.
Venue
Nature
Published
2011-03
Volume
471
Issue
7337
Pages
216-219
ISSN
  • 0028-0836 (ISSN-L)
  • 1476-4687
OpenAlex
W2103914320
Cited by
535
References
29
Citations by year
2026: 23 · 2025: 32 · 2024: 31 · 2023: 37 · 2022: 20 · 2021: 31 · 2020: 48 · 2019: 26 · 2018: 35 · 2017: 35 · 2016: 46 · 2015: 44 · 2014: 42 · 2013: 33 · 2012: 36
FWCI
48.98
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Nature (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • Digital Commons - PCOM (Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine) (submittedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • Howard Hughes Medical Institute
  • National Institutes of Health (1f32hd062137-01)
  • National Human Genome Research Institute (P50HG002568, R01HG005058)
  • Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (R01HD059862, 1 F32 HD062137-01, F32 HD062137)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Chromosomal and Genetic Variations
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genomic variations and chromosomal abnormalities
  • Social Sciences › Anthropology › Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology
Keywords
human evolution, non-coding DNA, enhancers, androgen receptor, penile spines, GADD45G, brain size evolution, neural development, steroid hormone signaling, chimpanzee comparison, human-specific traits, regulatory mutations, penile anatomy, brain expansion
MeSH terms
Animals, Brain, Pan troglodytes, DNA, Enhancer Elements, Genetic, Biological Evolution, Humans, Male, Organ Specificity, Penis, Regulatory Sequences, Nucleic Acid, Species Specificity, Genome, Human, Genes, Tumor Suppressor, Conserved Sequence, Sequence Deletion, Transgenes, Evolution, Molecular, DNA, Intergenic, Chromosomes, Mammalian, Human Characteristics, Mice

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