Class I major histocompatibility gene products of the brown Norway rat display two major antigenic regions

Sixteen Lewis anti-Brown Norway monoclonal antibodies and sera from alloimmunized Lewis rats were used to study the topographic relationships of antigenic determinants on class I major histocompatibility gene products. Only two independent antigenic regions were identified in competition binding assays. The first region is composed of a set of overlapping epitopes that are conserved in class I major histocompatibility products of mice and humans, as well as rats. In contrast, the second antigenic region appears in a restricted number of inbred rat strains and is not detected in other species. The data provide serologic confirmation, at the monoclonal and serum alloantibody level, of conserved polymorphisms in the major histocompatibility gene products of different species, a finding that is consistent with the amino acid sequences of these molecules.