Guanylate binding proteins (GBPs) represent an evolutionary ancient protein family widely distributed among eukaryotes. They are interferon (IFN)-inducible guanosine triphosphatases that belong to the dynamin superfamily. GBPs are known to have a major role in the cell-autonomous innate immune response against bacterial, parasitic and viral infections and are also involved in inflammasome activation. Evolutionary studies depicted that GBPs present a pattern of gain and loss of genes in each family with several genes pseudogenized and some genes more divergent, indicative for the birth-and-death evolution process. Most species harbor large GBP gene clusters encoding multiple paralogs. Previous functional studies mainly focused on mouse and human GBPs, but more data are becoming available, broadening the understanding of this multifunctional protein family. In this review, we will provide new insights and give a broad overview about GBP evolution, conservation and their roles in all studied species, including plants, invertebrates and vertebrates, revealing how far the described features of GBPs can be transferred to other species.

鸟苷酸结合蛋白 (GBP) 代表了一个广泛分布于真核生物中的进化古老蛋白家族。它们是干扰素 (IFN) 诱导型鸟苷三磷酸酶，属于发动蛋白超家族。已知 GBP 在针对细菌、寄生虫和病毒感染的细胞自主先天免疫反应中起主要作用，并且还参与炎性体激活。进化研究表明，GBPs在每个家族中呈现出一种基因获得和丢失的模式，其中几个基因被假基因化，一些基因更加分歧，表明生死进化过程。大多数物种都含有大量英镑编码多个旁系同源物的基因簇。以前的功能研究主要集中在小鼠和人类 GBPs，但越来越多的数据可用，拓宽了对这个多功能蛋白质家族的理解。在这篇综述中，我们将提供新的见解并广泛概述 GBP 的进化、保护及其在所有研究物种（包括植物、无脊椎动物和脊椎动物）中的作用，揭示所描述的 GBP 特征可以在多大程度上转移到其他物种。