The human LFA-3 gene is located at the same chromosome band as the gene for its receptor CD2

Lymphocyte function-associated antigen 3 (LFA-3) is a widely distributed cell surface glycoprotein that has been assigned a role in cell-cell adhesion on the basis of its capacity to bind to the T-lymphocyte CD2 antigen. The amino acid sequences of the extracellular domains of these two antigens, predicted from their cDNA sequences, show significant similarities, and both are members of the immunoglobulin supergene family. In this communication, a probe prepared from LFA-3 cDNA has been used in Southern blot analyses of somatic cell hybrids and in in situ hybridization to assign the LFA-3 gene to the human chromosome band 1p13. This is the same location previously assigned to CD2. Thus the LFA-3 and CD2 genes have probably arisen by duplication of a common evolutionary precursor. These genes therefore represent a further instance in which related members of the immunoglobulin superfamily are located in adjacent regions of the genome.