Phylogenetic Analysis by Molecular Sequence of Various Human Interleukins

Due to the importance of interleukins in the immune response, cell differentiation, and their potential use to treat autoimmune diseases and tumors, we decided to perform in this article a phylogenetic classification through the molecular sequence of several interleukins.

Aims: To make a general description of the most probable evolutionary history of the interleukins’ lineage by building a phylogenetic tree using statistical models.

Methodology: The molecular sequences of 16 human interleukins were downloaded from the UNIPROT website in FASTA format. With the free software MEGA11, using a maximum likelihood statistical model, the phylogenetic tree was built; subsequently, the constants were incorporated in the model to calibrate the time tree marker.

Results: Our results show that the first interleukins of Homo sapiens sapiens were outlined in the Upper Paleolithic. The evolutionary history of 8 interleukins probably occurred in the Mesolithic period. In the Neolithic, already with the discovery of agriculture, 6 Interleukins were developed.

Conclusions: Our results show that the appearance of different IL’s throughout the history of humanity, from the Paleolithic to the Mesolithic, coincides with climatic changes, variations in diet and / or lifestyle of humankind. In addition, some archaeological findings could be relevant to understanding how human evolution influenced the development of IL's, such as the genetic exchange between Homo sapiens and Homo neanderthalensis.