Cloning and Characterization of a New Swine MHC (SLA) Class II DQB Allele

Abstract

Major histocompatibibility complex (MHC) of pigs is known as swine leukocyte antigen (SLA). The cDNA encoding a new allele of SLA class II DQ β-chain was successfully isolated from a CSK miniature pig (derived from Göttingen strain) and characterized by sequence analyses. SLA-DQB cDNA fragment encoding β2-domain was amplified by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction using the sequences preserved in a various vertebrates as primers. Using non-radioisotope technique with the PCR product as a probe, cDNA clone G01 was isolated from a spleen cDNA library, and nucleotide sequence of this clone was determined. This clone encompassed a whole SLA-DQ β-chain coding region, containing a total length of 1161 nucleotides with an open reading frame (ORF) of 786 nucleotides, 5' untranslated region of 15 nucleotides, and 3' untranslated region of 360 nucleotides ending with a canonical polyadenylation signal, followed by a poly A tail. Sequence comparisons of the ORF of this clone with those of known SLA-DQB genes confirmed that this clone is a new allele (SLA-DQB*G01). Phylogenetic analysis of the nucleotide sequences of swine, human, and murine MHC class II genes indicated that SLA-DQB was more similar to HLA-DQB1 than H-2Aβ. Comparison of the nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequences among SLA-DQB alleles showed that the SLA-DQ β-chain polymorphism was found almost in β1-domain which contains the antigenic peptide binding sites.