The distribution of 13 killer-cell immunoglobulin-like receptor loci in UK blood donors from three ethnic groups.
Killer-cell immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIRs) can inhibit the killing activity of natural killer (NK) cells if they interact with their ligand, class I HLA. Using a modified polymerase chain reaction-sequence-specific primers (PCR-SSP) method for typing KIRs using genomic DNA, we compared KIR frequencies in three ethnic populations drawn from UK blood donors. We found a significantly lower frequency of the inhibitory KIRs KIR2DS1 and 3DS1 in Afro-Caribbean blood donors. Despite this, there was a (non-significant) increase in the B haplotype in Afro-Caribbean and Indian Asian donors. Some donors from each group tested negative for all non-inhibitory KIRs. In addition, we describe several new KIR profiles. Analysis of linkage disequilibrium was consistent with previously published findings.
Cook
M A
MA
Department of Histocompatibility & Immunogenetics, National Blood Service, Birmingham B15 2SG, UK. mark.cook@nbs.nhs.uk
Moss
P A H
PA
Briggs
D C
DC
D001782:Blood Donors; D005006:Ethnicity; D005787:Gene Frequency; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D015810:Linkage Disequilibrium; D011971:Receptors, Immunologic / Q000235:genetics*; D054340:Receptors, KIR; D054342:Receptors, KIR2DL1; D054349:Receptors, KIR3DS1; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000208:ethnology; D044465:White People / Q000235:genetics
D011971:Receptors, Immunologic; D054340:Receptors, KIR; D054342:Receptors, KIR2DL1; D054349:Receptors, KIR3DS1