Disease relevance of Pongo pygmaeus

• Phylogenetic analysis of foamy virus sequences obtained from Bornean and Sumatran orangutans showed a distinct clustering pattern [1].
• Thus, several distinct DAF-binding phenotypes of a selection of HEVs (viz. coxsackievirus A21 and echoviruses 6, 7, 11-13, 29) were identified from binding and infection assays using a panel of primate cells derived from human, orang-utan, African Green monkey and baboon tissues [2].
• The presence of neutralizing antibodies among wild orangutans strongly suggests the existence of sylvatic cycles for dengue, Japanese encephalitis, and sindbis viruses in North Borneo [3].
• Diverticulitis with rupture and fatal peritonitis in a Sumatran orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) [4].
• Using this formulation in three species of great ape, including eight orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus), nine chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), and two gorillas (Gorilla gorilla), fentanyl was offered transmucosally at an intended dose of 10-15 microg/kg based on estimated body weight [5].

High impact information on Pongo pygmaeus

• We sequenced the complementary DNAs that encode the FOXP2 protein in the chimpanzee, gorilla, orang-utan, rhesus macaque and mouse, and compared them with the human cDNA [6].
• Similarities of the skull are commonly used to support hypotheses of ancestor-descendant relationships between fossil and living ape genera, especially between the late Miocene apes Sivapithecus and Dryopithecus from Eurasia and the living orang-utan (Pongo) from Borneo and Sumatra [7].
• These data support the view that the theta 1-gene has been functional in the baboon, orang-utan, and by implication, in man [8].
• This structural difference in the promoter between the orang-utan theta 1- and alpha 1-genes has led Proudfoot to speculate that the theta 1-gene may be inactive [8].
• The putative polypeptide is 141 amino acids long, identical to that of the alpha- or zeta-globin, but its predicted amino-acid sequence is nearly as different from the orang-utan alpha-globin (55 differences) as the human zeta-globin is from the human alpha-globin (59 differences), suggesting an ancient history for the theta 1-globin gene [9].

Biological context of Pongo pygmaeus

• RESULTS: We analyzed the amount and patterns of molecular genetic variation in orang-utan populations using cellular DNA from orang-utans from two locations in Sumatra and nine locations-representing four isolated populations-in Borneo [10].
• Combined analysis of host mitochondrial DNA and SFV phylogeny provided evidence for the hypothesis of the repopulation of Sumatra by orangutans from Borneo [1].
• Urinary estrone, estradiol-17beta, estriol, pregnanediol and androsterone were identified and measured during 3 menstrual cycles in 2 female orangutans [11].
• A comparison of mitochondrial DNA sequences was undertaken for two genes among orangutans from Borneo and Sumatra [12].
• An orang-utan (Pongo pygmaeus) suspension line, CP81, was shown to lack myeloid markers of lysozyme activity an d phagocytosis but to be positive for lymphocytic N-alkaline phosphatase activity, and to release a B-cell-tropic herpesvirus [13].

Anatomical context of Pongo pygmaeus

• Leukocytes of chimpanzee and hamadryas baboon cells showed only 35% of the maximal O2- production rate obtained in human cells, and those of the Japanese monkey and orang-utan failed to respond [14].

Associations of Pongo pygmaeus with chemical compounds

• CONCLUSIONS: Our results are consistent with the view that the genetic differentiation between Sumatran and Bornean orang-utans has reached the level of distinct species [10].
• The monosulfate of 5 beta-pregnane-3 alpha, 20 alpha-diol constituted 12-14% of the total in chimpanzees and 3-4% in orangutans and humans [15].
• Whereas the average total concentrations were 4-5 times lower, 2.3-5.5 mumol X 1(-1) vs. 10.7-19.8 mumol X 1(-1), the pattern of steroid sulfates in the chimpanzees and orangutans were very similar to that previously found in pregnant women [15].
• Results illustrate that arrested adolescent orangutans have significantly lower testosterone and dihydrotestosterone (DHT) levels than developing adolescents, but significantly higher levels than juveniles [16].
• C4 genes of the chimpanzee, gorilla, and orang-utan: evidence for extensive homogenization [17].

Gene context of Pongo pygmaeus

• Southern blot analyses of genomic DNA show that new world monkeys have only one haptoglobin gene but that chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans, and old world monkeys have three [18].
• Evidence for an HLA-C-like locus in the orangutan Pongo pygmaeus [19].
• This ancestral modification, resulting from an insertion of a 6.5 kb intron in the C4A gene, therefore predates at least speciation of human and orang-utan which is estimated to have taken place more than 12 million years ago [20].
• Increased SOD1 enzymatic activity and gene modifications in orangutans: evolutionary implications [21].
• One of two tested HUPNA-2-positive baboon sera and one PONA-2-positive orang-utan serum also reacted with EBNA-2 in EBV-transformed cells [22].

Analytical, diagnostic and therapeutic context of Pongo pygmaeus

• Estrone conjugate (E1C) levels in humans and captive orangutans were analyzed by radioimmunoassay (RIA) [23].
• We studied developmental changes in the facial morphology of the Borneo orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) by observing 79 individuals of various ages living in the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre (SORC) in Malaysia and in Japanese zoos [24].

References