title: Identification of the rhesus monkey HLA-G ortholog. Mamu-G is a pseudogene.
abstract: HLA-G is a nonclassical MHC class I molecule that is primarily expressed in the placenta. To investigate whether rhesus monkeys possess an HLA-G ortholog, we cloned and sequenced MHC class I cDNAs from the rhesus placenta. We identified two rhesus MHC class I cDNAs with sequence similarity to HLA-G. Each cDNA contained premature stop codons and frameshift mutations, suggesting that it was derived from an MHC class I pseudogene. Gene trees constructed using MHC class I alleles from human and nonhuman primates revealed that the rhesus placental pseudogene alleles clustered with HLA-G orthologs from the human, chimpanzee, and gorilla. These data suggested that this rhesus MHC class I pseudogene is an HLA-G ortholog. This locus was, therefore, designated Mamu (Macaca mulatta)-G. PCR amplification of a portion of Mamu-G from the genomic DNA of five rhesus monkeys resulted in the identification of five additional Mamu-G alleles and revealed the presence of four Mamu-G alleles in one rhesus monkey, suggesting that Mamu-G had been duplicated in this individual. Furthermore, the analysis of 81 MHC class I clones isolated from a rhesus placenta cDNA library did not result in the isolation of Mamu-G cDNAs, nor the isolation of any additional HLA-G homologs, suggesting that Mamu-G was transcribed at negligible levels. Given the similarity of rhesus monkey and human placenta structure and function, these data raise interesting questions regarding the role of HLA-G in pregnancy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, University of Wisconsin, Madison 53715, USA. boyson@primate.wisc.edu
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Boyson
authors.forename: K K
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Iwanaga
authors.forename: T G
authors.initials: TG
authors.lastname: Golos
authors.forename: D I
authors.initials: DI
authors.lastname: Watkins
mesh_terms: D017398:Alternative Splicing; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D005802:Genes, MHC Class II; D006680:HLA Antigens / Q000235:genetics; D059951:HLA-G Antigens; D015395:Histocompatibility Antigens Class I / Q000235:genetics; D000949:Histocompatibility Antigens Class II / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008253:Macaca mulatta / Q000276:immunology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D005810:Multigene Family; D010802:Phylogeny; D010920:Placenta; D011247:Pregnancy; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid
chemical_list: D018076:DNA, Complementary; D006680:HLA Antigens; D059951:HLA-G Antigens; D015395:Histocompatibility Antigens Class I; D000949:Histocompatibility Antigens Class II