The Journal of Immunology, Vol 148, Issue 8 2547-2554, Copyright © 1992 by American Association of Immunologists

ARTICLES

Molecular cloning of orangutan and gibbon MHC class I cDNA. The HLA-A and -B loci diverged over 30 million years ago

ZW Chen, SN McAdam, AL Hughes, AL Dogon, NL Letvin and DI Watkins
Harvard Medical School, New England Regional Primate Research Center, Southborough, MA 01772.

To investigate whether the classical HLA MHC class I loci have been preserved during evolution of the primates, we have cloned, sequenced, and expressed eight MHC class I cDNA from orangutan and gibbon lymphocytes. Both the HLA-A and -B loci are present in both of these species. In fact, lymphocytes from the orangutan expressed three HLA-B- related gene products, suggesting that the ancestral homologue of the HLA-B locus had undergone a duplication in this species. Interestingly, several amino acid motifs thought to be important in the Ag-presenting function of MHC class I molecules were preserved in the Ag-recognition sites of the orangutan and gibbon MHC class I molecules. Finally, these findings suggest that the recombination event between the HLA-A and -E loci occurred over 38 million years ago. These data indicate that the HLA-A and -B loci are extremely stable and that recombination between them is rare. Furthermore, the data presented here argue against the role of concerted evolution in the evolution of primate MHC class I molecules.

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