Related Experiment Videos
Polymorphisms of the TAP2 transporter gene in systemic lupus erythematosus
E J Davies1, R P Donn, M C Hillarby
1University of Manchester, Rheumatic Diseases Centre, Hope Hospital, Salford.
Objectives:
To determine whether the TAP2 transporter gene, which lies between HLA-DP and HLA-DQ, is involved in determining susceptibility to systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).
Methods:
TAP2 types were determined by ARMS-PCR in 89 white patients with SLE and 156 control subjects.
Results:
No particular TAP2 dimorphism or allele was associated with SLE or with any clinical/immunological subgroup of SLE. Furthermore, there was no evidence for significant linkage disequilibrium between TAP2 and HLA-DQ/DR in SLE.
Conclusions:
These data suggest that TAP2 is not a disease susceptibility gene for SLE and that the disease-predisposing haplotypes do not extend as far as TAP2. This indicates that any HLA-DP association with SLE must be independent of other class II (DQ/DR) associations.