Porcine SWC1 is CD52--final determination by the use of a retroviral cDNA expression library

During the last decades for several species--e.g. swine--many mAb to leukocyte-specific molecules have been developed and clusters of differentiation corresponding to human CD could be established. However, for a significant amount of the raised mAb the corresponding antigens were not characterized on the molecular level and therefore preliminary clusters--in swine so-called Swine workshop clusters (SWC)--were established. These clusters contain antigens with currently no obvious orthologs to human leukocyte differentiation antigens. In this study, we describe the generation of a eukaryotic cDNA expression library from in vitro activated porcine peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Screening of this library with an antibody recognizing SWC1 enabled isolation and sequencing of cDNAs coding for the porcine SWC1 molecule. A BLAST search of the obtained sequence revealed that SWC1 is the orthologous molecule of human CD52. Therefore, our study provides the basis for comparative studies on the role of CD52 in different mammalian species. In addition, the established cDNA library can be used for investigation of additional SWC-defined molecules.