title: Unparalleled complexity of the MHC class I region in rhesus macaques.
abstract: The highly polymorphic gene products of the classical MHC class I genes in humans (HLA-A, HLA-B, and HLA-C) play a critical role in the immune defense against intracellular infections. Because non-human primates are important models for AIDS vaccine research, rhesus monkeys from a thoroughly pedigreed and serotyped colony were subjected to full-length cDNA analysis of MHC class I gene transcripts. Rhesus macaques express multiple dominant Mamu-A and Mamu-B transcripts (majors) per chromosome, which are characterized by high expression levels. The presence of additional cDNAs with low levels of expression (minors) suggests evidence for transcriptional control of MHC class I genes. Moreover, phylogenetic analyses illustrate that most of the Mamu-A and Mamu-B loci/lineages identified display no or only limited levels of allelic polymorphism. Thus, MHC class I diversity in rhesus macaques is typified by the existence of an unmatched high number of Mamu-A and Mamu-B region configurations that exhibit polymorphism with regard to the number and combination of transcribed loci present per chromosome.
authors.affiliation: Department of Comparative Genetics and Refinement, Biomedical Primate Research Centre, PO Box 3306, 2280 GH Rijswijk, The Netherlands. otting@bprc.nl
authors.forename: Nel
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Otting
authors.forename: Corrine M C
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Heijmans
authors.forename: Riet C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Noort
authors.forename: Natasja G
authors.initials: NG
authors.lastname: de Groot
authors.forename: Gaby G M
authors.initials: GG
authors.lastname: Doxiadis
authors.forename: Jon J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: van Rood
authors.forename: David I
authors.initials: DI
authors.lastname: Watkins
authors.forename: Ronald E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Bontrop
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D015234:HLA-A Antigens / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D015235:HLA-B Antigens / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D006681:HLA-D Antigens / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D008253:Macaca mulatta / Q000145:classification / Q000276:immunology*; D008285:Major Histocompatibility Complex; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D015234:HLA-A Antigens; D015235:HLA-B Antigens; D006681:HLA-D Antigens