The diallelic locus encoding the minor histocompatibility antigen HA-1 is evolutionarily conserved

B Wieles1, J Pool, M Wilke

  • 1Department of Immunohematology and Blood Transfusion, Leiden University Medical Center, Albinusdreef 2, 2333 ZA Leiden, the Netherlands. b.wieles@lumc.nl

Tissue Antigens
|June 16, 2006
PubMed

The polymorphic minor histocompatibility antigen HA-1 induces powerful T-cell alloreactivities with important consequences for graft-vs-tumor activity and development of graft-vs-host disease in patients after human leukocyte antigen-matched stem-cell transplantation (SCT). In view of possible translational animal studies, we analyzed the evolutionary conservation of the diallelic HA-1 locus in four mammalian species. Our results show that rodents do not encode the HA-1(H) allele, neither show polymorphism in this position on the HA-1 gene. Contrariwise, the HA-1(H) allele is present in non-human primate species and dogs. Interestingly, both the HA-1(H) T-cell epitope and its non-immunogenic counterpart HA-1(R) are present in the latter species. Thus, the HA-1 allelic polymorphism is conserved in evolution in primates and dogs.

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