Analysis of the non classical class I genes of the MHC in swine
Year: 2011
Type: dissertation
Abstract: In pig, very little information is available on the three non classical MHC class I genes SLA-6, -7 and -8 (SLA-Ib genes). Our aim was to increase knowledge on SLA-Ib genes by studying their polymorphism, transcription and protein expression. Full length transcripts were characterized from thymus and brain of MeLiM pigs resulting in the annotation of 8 exons for SLA-7 and -8 and 7 exons for SLA-6. The three full length cDNAs encode molecules with a predicted folding consistent with peptide presentation. No additional transcript was found for SLA-8 while four and five were detected for SLA-6 and SLA-7, respectively, suggesting that some soluble forms of these molecules may exist. For SLA-7, an alternative spliced variant was found in the 3'UTR of the gene after the termination codon suggesting possible post-transcriptional regulation of the gene. Polymorphism studies confirmed a limited nucleotide polymorphism but revealed an unexpected copy number variation for SLA-7. Ongoing experiments are still in progress to characterize monoclonal antibodies specific of each SLA-Ib molecule in transient transfection systems. Our overall results provided significant new data on SLA-Ib genes and will pave a way toward more functional analyses related to their putative function in immuno-tolerance.
Source: HAL
Author: Rui, Hu
Language: English
Subfield: Molecular Biology
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2642672856