C6 polymorphism in Japanese: typing by agarose gel isoelectric focusing-immunofixation

Area of Science:

• Immunogenetics
• Human population genetics
• Complement system biology

Background:

• The sixth component of complement (C6) is a crucial part of the human immune system.
• Genetic variations in complement proteins can influence immune responses and disease susceptibility.
• Understanding C6 polymorphism in different ethnic groups is important for population genetics and clinical studies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the genetic polymorphism of the sixth component of complement (C6) in the Japanese population.
• To determine the allele frequencies of C6 variants in this cohort.
• To identify common C6 alleles characterizing the Japanese population.

Main Methods:

• Agarose gel isoelectric focusing was employed to separate C6 protein variants.
• Immunofixation was used for precise visualization and identification of C6 patterns.
• Allele frequencies were calculated based on the analysis of 135 Japanese individuals.

Main Results:

• The study identified four distinct C6 alleles in the Japanese population: C6*A, C6*B, C6*B2, and C6*B3.
• Calculated allele frequencies were C6*A = 0.467, C6*B = 0.481, C6*B2 = 0.037, and C6*B3 = 0.015.
• The C6*B3 allele was identified as the fourth most common allele in the studied Japanese population.

Conclusions:

• The genetic polymorphism of C6 in the Japanese population has been characterized.
• The allele frequencies provide a genetic profile of C6 in this ethnic group.
• The C6*B3 allele is suggested to be a significant and common variant within the Japanese population.