Analysis of human class II antigen alpha chain genes: a summary

A cDNA clone corresponding to the HLA-DR alpha chain has been isolated following immunoprecipitation of polysomes with a monoclonal antibody against the denatured DR alpha chain. This cDNA clone has been used to isolate and solve the complete structure of the DR alpha chain gene and a cDNA clone corresponding to the DC alpha chain. The DR alpha and the DC alpha chains bear remarkable homology to each other and have one domain (alpha 2) which is a member of the immunoglobulin superfamily. The DC alpha chain gene has been demonstrated to be the homologue of the murine I-A alpha chain gene, and it has been localized on chromosome 6 using deletion mutants. A restriction enzyme polymorphism of the DC alpha chain gene has been detected in HLA-DR homozygous typing cells. This report is a summary of a presentation made at the HLA-DR meeting held in Marseille, France.