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- Title
Discovery of gorilla MHC-C expressing C1 ligand for KIR.
- Authors
Hans, Jörg B.; Vigilant, Linda
- Abstract
In comparison to humans and chimpanzees, gorillas show low diversity at MHC class I genes (<italic>Gogo</italic>), as reflected by an overall reduced level of allelic variation as well as the absence of a functionally important sequence motif that interacts with killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIR). Here, we use recently generated large-scale genomic sequence data for a reassessment of allelic diversity at <italic>Gogo-C</italic>, the gorilla orthologue of <italic>HLA-C</italic>. Through the combination of long-range amplifications and long-read sequencing technology, we obtained, among the 35 gorillas reanalyzed, three novel full-length genomic sequences including a coding region sequence that has not been previously described. The newly identified <italic>Gogo-C*03:01</italic> allele has a divergent recombinant structure that sets it apart from other <italic>Gogo-C</italic> alleles. Domain-by-domain phylogenetic analysis shows that <italic>Gogo-C*03:01</italic> has segments in common with <italic>Gogo-B*07</italic>, the additional <italic>B</italic>-like gene that is present on some gorilla MHC haplotypes. Identified in ~ 50% of the gorillas analyzed, the <italic>Gogo-C*03:01</italic> allele exclusively encodes the C1 epitope among Gogo-C allotypes, indicating its important function in controlling natural killer cell (NK cell) responses via KIR. We further explored the hypothesis whether gorillas experienced a selective sweep which may have resulted in a general reduction of the gorilla MHC class I repertoire. Our results provide little support for a selective sweep but rather suggest that the overall low <italic>Gogo</italic> class I diversity can be best explained by drastic demographic changes gorillas experienced in the ancient and recent past.
- Subjects
MAJOR histocompatibility complex; KILLER cell receptors; NUCLEOTIDE sequencing; EVOLUTIONARY theories; ALLELES
- Publication
Immunogenetics, 2018, Vol 70, Issue 5, p293
- ISSN
0093-7711
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1007/s00251-017-1038-y