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Updated: Jun 25, 2026

Detection of Alternative Splicing During Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition
Published on: October 9, 2014
Evolution of the opossum major histocompatibility complex: evidence for diverse alternative splice patterns and low
Michelle L Baker1, Sandra D Melman, James Huntley
1Center for Evolutionary and Theoretical Immunology, Department of Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA. mlbaker@unm.edu
Abstract:
The opossum major histocompatibility complex (MHC) shares a similar organization with that of non-mammals while containing a diverse set of class I genes more like that of eutherian (placental) mammals. There are 11 class I loci in the opossum MHC region, seven of which are known to be transcribed. The previously described Monodelphis domestica (Modo)-UA1 and Modo-UG display characteristics consistent with their being classical and non-classical class I genes, respectively. Here we describe the characteristics of the remaining five transcribed class I loci (Modo-UE, -UK, -UI, -UJ and -UM). All five genes have peptide-binding grooves with low or no polymorphism, contain unpaired cysteines with the potential to produce homodimer formation and display genomic organizational features that would be unusual for classical class I loci. In addition, Modo-UJ and -UM were expressed in alternatively spliced mRNA forms, including a potentially soluble isoform of Modo-UJ. Thus, the MHC region of the opossum contains a single class I gene that is clearly classical and six other class I genes each with its own unique characteristics that probably perform roles other than or in addition to antigen presentation.
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