Neanderthal Immune System & Modern Europeans

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This article was shared by Dr. Spencer Wells on Facebook. It discusses how neanderthal admixture impacts the immune system.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/next/evolution/neanderthal-immune-system

In Montreal, as he was comparing the immune responses of African and European people, Barreiro found that 147 genes in his European samples showed signs of Neanderthal ancestry. But one stood out: the OAS family of genes that fight a variety of viral and bacterial infections. Today, 41% of people of European descent have the Neanderthal version of this family of genes, while the rest have the more common European-specific version. To Barreiro, it was a natural setup for an experiment: By comparing the immune cells from these two groups, he could start to understand how Neanderthal DNA shapes immune responses today...Such work is seeing a very recent surge in activity. Also in late 2016, Quintana-Murci, the population geneticist in Paris, used the detailed genetic maps to focus on PNMA1, a gene that produces a protein that directly interacts with the flu virus. “It’s not only super enriched in Neanderthal ancestry, but it’s present in 33% of Europeans, which is huge for a Neanderthal gene,” he says. Experiments with the virus and immune cells are currently underway to reveal how this relates to active infection, adding another layer to the OAS work in Barreiro’s lab...“If we take all the genes associated with innate immunity—the first line of immune defense—on average, Europeans have a higher degree of Neanderthal ancestry than the remainder of the genome,” says Lluis Quintana-Murci, a population geneticist from the Pasteur Institute in Paris. This goes against the norm, he says: Most Neanderthal DNA was diluted over time. Over 30,000 years since they interbred with humans, their injection of DNA was selected against more often than not. Their genes were detrimental to modern humans. But when it comes to the immune system, large sections of Neanderthal DNA remain largely unchanged today. This makes sense: With a long history in Europe, Neanderthals had plentiful opportunity to prime their bodies to the local bacteria, viruses, and parasites. By interbreeding with them, humans inherited thousands of years of adaptation in an evolutionary blink of an eye.
 
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'With a long history in Europe, Neanderthals had plentiful opportunity to prime their bodies to the local bacteria, viruses, and parasites. By interbreeding with them, humans inherited thousands of years of adaptation in an evolutionary blink of an eye.'

so, Asians who also have 2 % Neanderthal would not have saved the specific Neanderthal genes associated with innate immunity?
 
'With a long history in Europe, Neanderthals had plentiful opportunity to prime their bodies to the local bacteria, viruses, and parasites. By interbreeding with them, humans inherited thousands of years of adaptation in an evolutionary blink of an eye.'

so, Asians who also have 2 % Neanderthal would not have saved the specific Neanderthal genes associated with innate immunity?


This is from an older article. It indicates that some Asians also have inherited these immunity genes.

However, I would assume they have immune systems more specifically primed for East Asia.


http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-neanderthal-genes-immunity-20160106-story.html

Not everyone with Neanderthal DNA inherited the same genes. But the immunity genes appear to be more popular than others.


Among some Asian and European populations, the researchers found that these particular Neanderthal genes can be found in 50% of people.
 
In regards to traits of the Neanderthal immune system, I personally inherited. I have 1 of 3 traits associated; pathogen recognition. The other two traits, interpreting immune signals, and viral immune response, are modern human.

Genes associated with Neanderthal pathogen recognition:

TLR1
Haplotype IV
TLR6
TLR10
Haplotype III

I learned this from my Insitome results, which I made another thread for.
 
before it’s all gone, I’ll start posting what’s left in the Insto app cache, … I don’t have the cache of all the Neanderthal traits.

Pigmentation
You have the Modern Human version

What
A unique Neanderthal version of the gene MC1R,
associated with fair or red hair and lighter skin.

Why
A genetic variant that became widespread
among modern humans because of the
advantages it conferred in areas with less
sunlight

How
Interbreeding between modern humans and
Neanderthals.

Full History
Humans evolved in Africa: the most
tropical continent on Earth.
When your primate ancestors lost their fur
and moved out onto the African
savannas, their skin was exposed to a
tremendous amount of direct sunlight.
In order to survive this exposure to
damaging solar radiation, their skin
was dark and produced high levels of
a naturally occurring pigment called
melanin. Every anatomically modern
human alive 200,000 years ago had
darkly pigmented skin, like sub-
Saharan Africans today. This is the
ancestral state for our species.

During our migration out of the
tropics and into Eurasia beginning
70,000 years ago, we lost some of
this pigmentation to adapt to the
lower sun intensity at higher latitudes.
It turns out that sunlight is necessary
for the deeper layers of your skin to
produce vitamin D. Your ancestors'
diets did not include much vitamin D,
and without this critical nutrient, your
bones become weak and brittle.
Mutations that reduced the amount of
pigmentation in the skin of people
living in northern latitudes was
advantageous because it allowed
sunlight to reach deeper layers of the
skin, and thus lighter skin became
more widespread.

One of the genes that regulate
pigmentation is melanocortin 1
receptor, or MC1R. Modern humans
have several mutations in this gene
that are associated with fair or red
hair and lighter skin, and it appears
that your Neanderthal cousins had
similar (but still unique) changes in
the MC1R gene. One of these
Neanderthal MC1R variants was
introduced into modern human
populations when humans interbred
with them, and the advantage the
gene conferred to its carriers caused
it to increase in frequency. Today, the
gene is widespread across modern,
non-African populations; particularly
in East Asians and Native Americans.

Another gene responsible for
regulating pigmentation is
oculocutaneous albinism 2, or OCA2.
It is also associated with fair or red
hair and lighter skin and, like MC1R,
has a unique Neanderthal version.
Today, new variations of OCA2 are
widespread in modern Eurasian
populations, particularly in East Asia.

Genes
MCIR
Genes related to sun exposure that
are involved in the skin's production
of melanin and affect pigmentation.

q44luZ1.jpg
 
Fat Storage
You have the Neanderthal version

What
The Denisovan (East Asian Neanderthal)
mutation in the WARS2 gene that affects fat
storage.

Why
A genetic shortcut that gave your Arctic
ancestors the ability to survive in new, frigid
environments different from their original home
on the African savanna.

How
Interbreeding between modern humans and
Denisovans.

Full History
As modern humans left their African
homeland and migrated into Eurasia
70,000 years ago, they encountered
many environments that were
significantly different from the one
they left behind on the savanna.
Extreme cold, less sunlight and
significantly higher altitudes were all
in store for them as they spread
around the world.

One such extreme environment was
the Arctic North; with temperatures in
the winter plunging to -50°F or lower.
Humans adapted in many ways to the
harsh conditions by becoming more
compact and adding additional body
fat. Becoming more compact in
stature reduces the surface area of
the body available for heat loss and,
thereby, preserves more heat within
the body. Fat provides insulation and
can be metabolically activated or
"burned” to provide warmth.

A mutation in the WARS2 gene, which
affects fat deposition, is found at a
frequency of nearly 100% in
Greenland Inuit peoples but is found
at much lower frequencies in Asian
and European populations and not at
all in Africa. By comparing the genetic
signature surrounding of this variant
to modern and ancient DNA
sequences, researchers discovered
that Denisovans introduced this
variant to populations in Asia.
Denisovans are another ancient
cousin of modern humans much like
Neanderthals. The WARS2 variant
they acquired from this ancient tryst
allowed Arctic populations to take a
shortcut in adapting to their frigid
environment.

Genes
TBX15 + 1 more

This region containing both the
WARS2 and TBX15 genes is a major
component of human development
and growth. In particular for this trait,
TBX15 is controls the formation of
brown fat tissue.

WARS2
This region containing both the
WARS2 and TBX15 genes is a major
component of human development
and growth. In particular for this trait,
TBX15 is controls the formation of
brown fat tissue.

19RMOGj.jpg
 
Pathogen Recognition
You have the Neanderthal version

What
Neanderthal versions of genes involved in the
innate immune response, the immune system's
first line of defense against pathogens.

Why
These genes remain in the human genome today
because they gave your modern human
ancestors a critical adaptation - defense
against newly encountered microorganisms.

How
Interbreeding between modern humans and
Neanderthals.

Full History
About 70,000 years ago, humans, as
we know them today, started to leave
Africa in search of a new climate.
Some anthropologists theorize that
they left due to the last glacial
maximum. With the polar ice caps
growing larger, much of the moisture
was being drawn out of an already
arid landscape. Humans tend to settle
around bodies of water for daily
survival, so off they went in search of
what could sustain them.

Upon arrival in the new climes of
Eurasia, ancient humans encountered
several new viruses and bacteria. In
the same way, you might get sick or
develop allergies while visiting a new
place, these recent migrants had not
developed immunity to local diseases
and were often victim to infection.
Neanderthals, on the other hand, had
been living and adapting in Eurasia
for hundreds of thousands of years
before humans arrived. Naturally, their
immune systems were much better
equipped to handle biological threats
in their environment.

The first migrants may not have been
particularly good at fending off
disease, but they were able to equip
their progeny with better immune
systems quickly by breeding with the
local human species: Neanderthals.
When they exchanged genetic
information, some humans received a
modification to the Toll-Like Receptor
(TLR) region of their genome, which
improved their immune systems for
environments in Eurasia. This
improvement allows its carriers to
better recognize pathogens, or
biological dangers like bacteria and
viruses, in their Northern Hemisphere
environments. As a result, this
modification to the TLR gene is
widespread within non-African
populations across the globe.

Genes
TLR10 + 4 more
Neanderthal contributions to our
immune systems lie primarily in the
TLR1-TLR6-TLR10 gene cluster. The
activity of these genes is vital in our
innate immune system, serving as the
front line to recognize pathogens and
alerting the adaptive immune
response.
Haplotype IV
TLR6
TLRI
Haplotype III

Z7lRk1Y.jpg
 
Learning
You have the Neanderthal version

What
Shared versions of genes associated with visual
learning, memory and cognition that suggest
similarities in the psychology of modern humans
and Neanderthals.

Why
Genetic variation that modern humans share
with Neanderthals, inherited from our common
ancestors.

How
Genetic variants shared by modern humans and
Neanderthals.

Full History
When evidence of Neanderthals was
first discovered in the 19th century,
many people thought that they were
diseased, malformed versions of
anatomically modern humans. The
attitude that they were somehow less
"able” than modern humans has
persisted to present day, especially
with respect to their mental capacity.
Today, when someone refers to
someone as "Neanderthal", it's not
usually a compliment.

Anthropologists have found that the
Neanderthals' brain capacity is larger
than that of humans, but size does not
correlate perfectly with intelligence.
Humans lived on, and Neanderthals
disappeared. Many believe it may
have boiled down to a battle of wits,
and that humans perhaps outsmarted them.

Recent research has shown, though,
that Neanderthals were far from the
brutish ogres portrayed by previous
generations of anthropologists.
Several archaeological finds show
that Neanderthals practiced common
cultural traditions like burying their
dead, decorating their bodies with
jewelry, and even creating art. Overall,
they were far more similar to us than
we originally thought.

Not only do we find evidence of
culture through archaeology, but we
can also see evidence of behavior
through genetics. Neanderthals had a
distinct set of mutations in their genes
for visual learning, memory, and
cognition. These same markers are
also common in modern human
populations. Some researchers have
suggested that this is an indicator of a
high degree of similarity in the
psychology of humans and our
Neanderthal cousins. So the next time
someone calls you a Neanderthal, you
can think of it as a compliment!

Genes
NGF+ 13 more
These genes play roles in how you
think. Primarily they are associated
with visual learning, long term
memory, and cognition. The most
variants are found in TANC1, a center
of visual learning.
OXTR
GALR2
CHSTIO
MUSK
SLC6A4
CYP7B1
ILIRN
OXT
GLPIR
TANCI
APBBIIP
RELN
GRIN2A

fvzhAQ3.jpg
 
Viral Immune Response
You have the Neanderthal version

What
Neanderthal version of immune system genes adapted to microorganisms in the Eurasian environment.

Why
These genes remain in the human genome today because they gave your ancestors a critical advantage - defense against newly encountered pathogens during their rapid adaptation to life outside of Africa.

How
Interbreeding between modern humans and Neanderthals.

Full History
Neanderthals not only provided a gene variation that helps recognize foreign pathogens or unusual biological threats, but they also passed on a gene variant for responding to viral disease.
Pathogens include bacteria and viruses. Even though these two groups of pathogens are commonly confused, they are quite different. The biggest difference between the two is that a bacterium is living organism with conventional cell biological processes. In contrast, the virus is arguably not alive, but simply an inert vessel. While bacteria can live virtually anywhere, viruses require a host to survive and reproduce.

In order to protect themselves from viruses passed around by other living organisms, humans needed a quick fix rather than thousands of years of gradual evolution. Without the advantage of the modern medicine, we have today, modern human immune systems improved through the process of hybridization with Neanderthals; who were already adapted to fighting off viruses in the Eurasian environment. This way, modern humans with the Neanderthal variant of a gene in the oligoadenylate synthase (OAS) region of the genome were better suited to tackle viruses throughout the Eurasian continent.

Genes
OAS2 + 3 more
The OAS genes help our immune
system identify the presence of
viruses.
OAS3
DTXI
OASI

z8bHDbS.jpg
 
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