title: MHC class I genes in the owl monkey: mosaic organisation, convergence and loci diversity.
abstract: The MHC class I molecule plays an important role in immune response, pathogen recognition and response against vaccines and self- versus non-self-recognition. Studying MHC class I characteristics thus became a priority when dealing with Aotus to ensure its use as an animal model for biomedical research. Isolation, cloning and sequencing of exons 1-8 from 27 MHC class I alleles obtained from 13 individuals classified as belonging to three owl monkey species (A. nancymaae, A. nigriceps and A. vociferans) were carried out to establish similarities between Aotus MHC class I genes and those expressed by other New and Old World primates. Six Aotus MHC class I sequence groups (Ao-g1, Ao-g2, Ao-g3, Ao-g4, Ao-g5 and Ao-g6) weakly related to non-classical Catarrhini MHC were identified. An allelic lineage was also identified in one A. nancymaae and two A. vociferans monkeys, exhibiting a high degree of conservation, negative selection along the molecule and premature termination of the open reading frame at exon 5 (Ao-g5). These sequences' high conservation suggests that they more likely correspond to a soluble form of Aotus MHC class I molecules than to a new group of processed pseudogenes. Another group, named Ao-g6, exhibited a strong relationship with Catarrhini's classical MHC-B-C loci. Sequence evolution and variability analysis indicated that Aotus MHC class I molecules experience inter-locus gene conversion phenomena, contributing towards their high variability.
authors.affiliation: Molecular Biology Department, Fundacion Instituto de Inmunologia de Colombia, Bogota, Colombia.
authors.forename: Paula P
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Cardenas
authors.forename: Carlos F
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Suarez
authors.forename: Pilar
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Martinez
authors.forename: Manuel E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Patarroyo
authors.forename: Manuel A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Patarroyo
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D016645:Aotidae / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D001483:Base Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D018389:Codon, Nonsense; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D014644:Genetic Variation; D015395:Histocompatibility Antigens Class I / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny
chemical_list: D018389:Codon, Nonsense; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D015395:Histocompatibility Antigens Class I