Human interferon-alpha A, -alpha 2, and -alpha 2(Arg) genes in genomic DNA

The frequency in human genomic DNA of three human interferon (IFN) alpha genes which differ from each other by a single base substitution was examined in 11 normal individuals. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to amplify the coding sequence for the Hu-IFN-alpha 2, Hu-IFN-alpha A, and Hu-IFN-alpha 2(Arg) sequences from genomic DNA. The PCR products were then cloned and individual clones were sequenced. PCR products were also analyzed by restriction endonuclease analysis for the IFN-alpha 2 and IFN-alpha A genes by use of a HinfI site which is eliminated by the substitution of an A for a G in IFN-alpha A. The IFN-alpha A gene which was cloned from the myeloblastoid cell line KG-1 was not observed in any of the 201 clones sequenced from normal individuals or in the Namalwa cell line. It was detected in KG-1 cell genomic DNA where it represented 49% of the clones sequenced. Similarly the IFN-alpha 2(Arg) gene was not detected in normal individuals or in the KG-1 cell line but only in the lymphoblastoid cell line from which it was cloned. In Namalwa cells the IFN-alpha 2(Arg) sequence represented 35% of the clones sequenced while the IFN-alpha 2 sequence comprised 59%. Therefore, both the IFN-alpha A and IFN-alpha 2(Arg) sequences represent alleles of the IFN-alpha 2 gene.