Analysis of interferon-alpha 2 sequences in human genomic DNA

We have analyzed the genomic DNA sequence corresponding to the human interferon-alpha 2 (IFN-alpha 2) gene locus. In human lymphoblastoid Namalwa cells, we have detected sequences corresponding to IFN-alpha 2b and -2c, while in human KG-1 cells both IFN-alpha 2a and -2b were present. However, in 100 independent IFN-alpha 2 clones derived from 20 unrelated Caucasian volunteers, we found only sequences corresponding to IFN-alpha 2b. Statistical analysis of this result suggests that the sequences corresponding to IFN-alpha 2a and -2c are either rare allelic variants of this gene, occurring in only a minority of the Caucasian population, or are restricted to transformed cell lines.