Biology Faculty Articles

Title

Diversity of MICA and Linkage Disequilibrium with HLA-B in Two North American Populations

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

3-2006

Publication Title

Human Immunology

Keywords

MICA polymorphism, HLA-B, Linkage disequilibrium

ISSN

0198-8859

Volume

67

Issue/No.

3

First Page

152

Last Page

158

Abstract

The MICA gene has a high degree of polymorphism. Allelic variation of MICA may influence binding of these ligands to the NK cell receptor NKG2D and may affect organ transplantation and/or disease pathogenesis. Knowledge of the population distribution of MICA alleles and their linkage disequilibrium (LD) with class I human leukocyte antigen (HLA) will enhance our understanding of the potential functional significance of the MICA polymorphism. In the present study, we characterized the MICA and HLA-B polymorphisms in two North American populations: European and African. The individual racial groups showed rather limited variation at the MICA locus, where the same set of three most common alleles, MICA*00201, *004, and *00801, account for 64 and 71% of the allele frequency in European-Americans and African-Americans, respectively. Other common alleles (allele frequency >5% in a population) include MICA*00901 and *010. MICA alleles showed strong linkage disequilibrium with HLA-B. Typically, a common MICA allele has strong LD with several HLA-B alleles, whereas most HLA-B alleles and their related serological groups are associated with a single MICA allele. The lack of evidence for an active diversification of the MICA gene after racial separation indicates an evolutionary history distinct from that of the classical HLA genes.

Comments

©2006 American Society for Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Additional Comments

National Cancer Institute contract #: NO1-CO-12400; Department of Energy grant #: DE-FG02-00ER45828

ORCID ID

0000-0001-7353-8301

ResearcherID

N-1726-2015

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