title: MHC class I allele frequencies in pigtail macaques of diverse origin.
abstract: Pigtail macaques (Macaca nemestrina) are an increasingly common primate model for the study of human AIDS. Major Histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I-restricted CD8(+) T cell responses are a critical part of the adaptive immune response to HIV-1 in humans and simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) in macaques; however, MHC class I alleles have not yet been comprehensively characterized in pigtail macaques. The frequencies of ten previously defined alleles (four Mane-A and six Mane-B) were investigated in detail in 109 pigtail macaques using reference strand-mediated conformational analysis (RSCA). The macaques were derived from three separate breeding colonies in the USA, Indonesia and Australia, and allele frequencies were analysed within and between these groups. Mane-A*10, an allele that restricts the immunodominant SIV Gag epitope KP9, was the most common allele, present in 32.1% of the animals overall, with similar frequencies across the three cohorts. Additionally, RSCA identified a new allele (Mane-A*17) common to three Indonesian pigtail macaques responding to the same Gag CD8(+) T cell epitope. This broad characterization of common MHC class I alleles in more than 100 pigtail macaques further develops this animal model for the study of virus-specific CD8(+) T cell responses.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, 3010, Australia.
authors.forename: Bridget F
authors.initials: BF
authors.lastname: Pratt
authors.forename: David H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: O'Connor
authors.forename: Bernard A P
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Lafont
authors.forename: Joseph L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Mankowski
authors.forename: Caroline S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Fernandez
authors.forename: Retno
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Triastuti
authors.forename: Andrew G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Brooks
authors.forename: Stephen J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Kent
authors.forename: Miranda Z
authors.initials: MZ
authors.lastname: Smith
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005787:Gene Frequency; D005805:Genes, MHC Class I; D006801:Humans; D008254:Macaca nemestrina / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology