<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><xml><records><record><source-app name="Biblio" version="7.x">Drupal-Biblio</source-app><ref-type>17</ref-type><contributors><authors><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Galili, Uri</style></author></authors></contributors><titles><title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Mutations Inactivating Biosynthesis of Dispensable Carbohydrate-Antigens Prevented Extinctions in Primate/Human Lineage Evolution</style></title><short-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Journal of Molecular Evolution</style></short-title></titles><dates><year><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2025</style></year><pub-dates><date><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2025/04/01</style></date></pub-dates></dates><urls><web-urls><url><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">https://doi.org/10.1007/s00239-025-10243-x</style></url></web-urls></urls><volume><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">93</style></volume><pages><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">212 - 228</style></pages><isbn><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">1432-1432</style></isbn><language><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">eng</style></language><abstract><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">&lt;p&gt;The human natural anti-carbohydrate antibodies anti-Gal, anti-Neu5Gc, and anti-Forssman are &amp;ldquo;living-fossils&amp;rdquo; that appeared in ancestral apes, monkeys and hominins millions of years ago. These antibodies appeared at various evolutionary periods in few mutated-offspring that lost the ability to synthesize the corresponding dispensable (i.e., nonessential) carbohydrate-antigens, α-gal epitope, Neu5Gc (N-glycolyl neuraminic acid) and Forssman-antigen, respectively. Production of these antibodies is stimulated by environmental antigens such as those of the human microbiota. Elimination of carbohydrate-antigens in the few mutated-offspring was caused by accidental nonsense or missense mutations that inactivated genes encoding enzymes involved in their biosynthesis, while most&amp;nbsp;individuals in parental-populations continued synthesizing these carbohydrate-antigens. It has been suggested that dispensable carbohydrate-antigens which are absent in some mammalian species were evolutionary eliminated due to selective pressure by lethal viruses using these carbohydrate-antigens as &amp;ldquo;docking&amp;rdquo; receptors. An alternative selective mechanism which is based on the distribution of anti-Gal, anti-Neu5Gc and anti-Forssman in mammals, is presented in this review and is associated with the protective effects of these natural antibodies. It is suggested that epidemics of lethal enveloped-viruses caused the extinction of parental-populations synthesizing the corresponding carbohydrate-antigens of these antibodies, &amp;nbsp;independent of the cell adhesion mechanisms of such viruses. However, the few mutated offspring were protected by these natural antibodies which bound to carbohydrate-antigens synthesized on viruses as a result of their replication in individuals of the parental-populations. Recent studies suggest that these antibodies continue to contribute to the immune protection of humans against zoonotic infections by viruses presenting α-gal, Neu5Gc or Forssman antigens.&lt;/p&gt;
</style></abstract><issue><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2</style></issue></record></records></xml>