Premium
Identification of M hc M afa‐ DRB Alleles in a Cohort of Cynomolgus Macaques of V ietnamese Origin
Author(s) -
LI WAI,
WANG TAO,
LING FEI,
ZHAO HUA,
WEI LIQIONG,
ZHUO MIN,
DU HONGLI,
WANG XIAONING
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
american journal of primatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.988
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1098-2345
pISSN - 0275-2565
DOI - 10.1002/ajp.22048
Subject(s) - allele , biology , genetics , locus (genetics) , population , major histocompatibility complex , polymerase chain reaction , gene , medicine , environmental health
Cynomolgus macaques have been used widely to build a research model of infectious and chronic diseases, as well as in transplantation studies, where disease susceptibility and/or resistance are associated with the major histocompatibility complex ( MHC ). To better elucidate polymorphisms and genetic differences in the M afa‐ DRB locus, and facilitate the experimental use of cynomolgus macaques, we used pool screening combined with cloning and direct sequencing of polymerase chain reaction products to characterize M hcMafa‐ DRB gene alleles in 153 V ietnamese cynomolgus macaques. We identified 30 M afa‐ DRB alleles belonging to 17 allelic lineages, including four novel sequences that had not been documented in earlier reports. The highest frequency allele was M afa‐ DRB * W 27:04, which was present in 7 of 35 (20%) monkeys. The next most frequent alleles were M afa‐ DRB *3:07 and M afa‐ DRB * W 7:01 , which were detected in 5 of 35 (14.3%) and 4 of 35 (11.4%) of the monkeys, respectively. The high‐frequency alleles in this V ietnamese population may be high priority targets for additional characterization of immune functions. Only the DRB 1*03 and DRB 1*10 lineages were also present in humans, whereas the remaining alleles were monkey‐specific lineages. We found 25 variable sites by aligning the deduced amino acid sequences of 29 identified alleles. Evolutionary and population analyses based on these sequences showed that human, rhesus, and cynomolgus macaques share several M hc‐ DRB lineages and the shared polymorphisms in the DRB region may be attributable to the existence of interbreeding between rhesus and cynomolgus macaques. This information will promote the understanding of MHC diversity and polymorphism in cynomolgus macaques and increase the value of this species as a model for biomedical research. Am. J. Primatol. 74:958‐966, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.