title: A new MICA allele with ten alanine residues in the exon 5 microsatellite.
abstract: The MICA and MICB genes code for protein products that have structural similarities to major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I genes. These genes are upregulated by heat stress. They have been shown to interact with a common receptor (NKG2D/DAP10) on gammadelta T cells, CD8+ T cells and natural killer (NK) cells. The MICA gene has an expressed microsatellite, GCT, within the exon 5 which encodes for alanine. So far, four different repetitions of this short tandem have been reported. Also one non-synonymous, one synonymous substitution and a 1-bp insertion within this region have also been described. An association of Behcet's disease with the microsatellite A9 has been reported. Here we report a novel allele with 10 GCT repetitions (A10) which was detected by reference strand mediated conformation analysis and confirmed by DNA sequencing.
authors.affiliation: Anthony Nolan Research Institute, The Royal Free Hospital, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pérez-Rodríguez
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Corell
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Argüello
authors.forename: S T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Cox
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: McWhinnie
authors.forename: S G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Marsh
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Madrigal
mesh_terms: D000409:Alanine / Q000235:genetics*; D000483:Alleles; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D005091:Exons; D015395:Histocompatibility Antigens Class I / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data
chemical_list: D015395:Histocompatibility Antigens Class I; C099187:MHC class I-related chain A; D000409:Alanine