title: KIR gene content diversity in four Iranian populations.
abstract: Killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIR) regulate natural killer cell response against infection and malignancy. KIR genes are variable in the number and type, thereby discriminating individuals and populations. Herein, we analyzed the KIR gene content diversity in four native populations of Iran. The KIR genomic diversity was comparable between Bakhtiari and Persian and displayed a balance of A and B KIR haplotypes, a trend reported in Caucasian and African populations. The KIR gene content profiles of Arab and Azeri were comparable and displayed a preponderance of B haplotypes, a scenario reported in the natives of America, India, and Australia. A majority of the B haplotype carriers of Azeri and Arab had a centromeric gene-cluster (KIR2DS2-2DL2-2DS3-2DL5). Remarkably, this cluster was totally absent from the American natives but occurred at highest frequencies in the natives of India and Australia in combination with another gene cluster at the telomeric region (KIR3DS1-2DL5-2DS5-2DS1). Therefore, despite having similar frequencies of B haplotypes, the occurrence of B haplotype-specific KIR genes, such as 2DL2, 2DL5, 3DS1, 2DS1, 2DS2, 2DS3, and 2DS5 in Azeri and Arab were substantially different from the natives of America, India, and Australia. In conclusion, each Iranian population exhibits distinct KIR gene content diversity, and the Indo-European KIR genetic signatures of the Iranians concur with geographic proximity, linguistic affinity, and human migrations.
authors.affiliation: UCLA Immunogenetics Center, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1652, USA.
authors.forename: Elham
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ashouri
authors.forename: Shirin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Farjadian
authors.forename: Elaine F
authors.initials: EF
authors.lastname: Reed
authors.forename: Abbas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ghaderi
authors.forename: Raja
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rajalingam
mesh_terms: D002503:Centromere / Q000235:genetics; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000235:genetics*; D005787:Gene Frequency; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005838:Genotype; D006239:Haplotypes; D006801:Humans; D055261:Immunogenetic Phenomena; D007492:Iran; D005810:Multigene Family; D054340:Receptors, KIR / Q000235:genetics*; D016615:Telomere / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D054340:Receptors, KIR; D004247:DNA