The Bf locus in the HLA region of chromosome 6: linkage and association studies.

Bf allele frequencies in a material of 172 unrelated Norwegians are given. Bf/HLA linkage relations in 49 informative matings with 178 children, and Bf/HLA association data of a material of 212 Bf-HLA haplotypes are presented. Of 171 informative meioses, there were no Bf-HLA-B recombinations, while 3 out of 158 Bf-HLA-A informative meioses showed recombination. There is significant association between the BfF and the HLA-BW35 allele. It is concluded that the Bf locus is situated on the HLA-B side of HLA-A within the HLA region, in very close proximity to HLA-B.     

Localization of C4 genes within the HLA complex by molecular genotyping

Segregation of the complement component, C4, was analyzed in six families that each included an individual who inherited an HLA haplotype where a crossover event had occurred in the region between HLA-B and HLA-DR. Two cDNA clones corresponding to the C4 gene were utilized as probes in Southern blot analysis of DNA from members of each family. Restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLP) were observed and were assigned to haplotypes. In one family RFLP, hybridizing with the C4 probes, segregrated with HLA-B, and in four families RFLP segregated with HLA-DR; one family was not informative in this respect. These analyses have made it possible to localize the genes for C4 between HLA-B and HLA-DR by molecular genotyping and to characterize three different genomic configurations of C4 genes by limited restriction mapping.Abbreviations RFLP restriction fragment length polymorphisms - LCL lymphoblastoid cell lines     

Evidence for more than one Parkinson's disease-associated variant within the HLA region

Parkinson''s disease (PD) was recently found to be associated with HLA in a genome-wide association study (GWAS). Follow-up GWAS''s replicated the PD-HLA association but their top hits differ. Do the different hits tag the same locus or is there more than one PD-associated variant within HLA? We show that the top GWAS hits are not correlated with each other (0.00≤r²≤0.15). Using our GWAS (2000 cases, 1986 controls) we conducted step-wise conditional analysis on 107 SNPs with P<10⁻³ for PD-association; 103 dropped-out, four remained significant. Each SNP, when conditioned on the other three, yielded P_SNP1 = 5×10⁻⁴, P_SNP2 = 5×10⁻⁴, P_SNP3 = 4×10⁻³ and P_SNP4 = 0.025. The four SNPs were not correlated (0.01≤r²≤0.20). Haplotype analysis (excluding rare SNP2) revealed increasing PD risk with increasing risk alleles from OR = 1.27, P = 5×10⁻³ for one risk allele to OR = 1.65, P = 4×10⁻⁸ for three. Using additional 843 cases and 856 controls we replicated the independent effects of SNP1 (P_{conditioned-on-SNP4} = 0.04) and SNP4 (P_{conditioned-on-SNP1} = 0.04); SNP2 and SNP3 could not be replicated. In pooled GWAS and replication, SNP1 had OR_{conditioned-on-SNP4} = 1.23, P_{conditioned-on-SNP4} = 6×10⁻⁷; SNP4 had OR_{conditioned-on-SNP1} = 1.18, P_{conditioned-on-SNP1} = 3×10⁻³; and the haplotype with both risk alleles had OR = 1.48, P = 2×10⁻¹². Genotypic OR increased with the number of risk alleles an individual possessed up to OR = 1.94, P = 2×10⁻¹¹ for individuals who were homozygous for the risk allele at both SNP1 and SNP4. SNP1 is a variant in HLA-DRA and is associated with HLA-DRA, DRB5 and DQA2 gene expression. SNP4 is correlated (r² = 0.95) with variants that are associated with HLA-DQA2 expression, and with the top HLA SNP from the IPDGC GWAS (r² = 0.60). Our findings suggest more than one PD-HLA association; either different alleles of the same gene, or separate loci.     

Localization of the McLeod locus (XK) within Xp21 by deletion analysis.

The McLeod phenotype is an X-linked, recessive disorder in which the red blood cells demonstrate acanthocytic morphology and weakened antigenicity in the Kell blood group system. The phenotype is associated with a reduction of in vivo red cell survival, but the permanent hemolytic state is usually compensated by erythropoietic hyperplasia. The McLeod phenotype is accompanied by either a subclinical myopathy and elevated creatine kinase (CK) or X-linked chronic granulomatous disease (CGD). Seven males with the McLeod red-blood-cell phenotype and associated myopathy but not CGD, one male with the McLeod phenotype associated with CGD, and two males known to possess large deletions of the Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) locus were studied. DNA isolated from each patient was screened for the presence or absence of various cloned sequences located in the Xp21 region of the human X chromosome. Two of the seven males who have only the McLeod phenotype and are cousins exhibit deletions for four Xp21 cloned fragments but are not deleted for any portion of either the CGD or the DMD loci. Comparison of the cloned segments absent from these two McLeod cousins with those absent from the two DMD boys and the CGD/McLeod patient leads to the submapping of various cloned DNA segments within the Xp21 region. The results place the locus for the McLeod phenotype within a 500-kb interval distal from the CGD locus toward the DMD locus.     

Polymorphism, recombination, and linkage disequilibrium within the HLA class II region.

Thirty-nine CEPH (Centre d'Etude du Polymorphisme Humain) families, comprised of 502 individuals, have been typed for the HLA class II genes DRB1, DQA1, DQB1, and DPB1 using nonradioactive sequence-specific oligonucleotide probes to analyze polymerase chain reaction amplified DNA. This population, which consists of 266 independent chromosomes, contains 27 DRB1, 7 DQA1, 12 DQB1, and 17 DPB1 alleles. Analysis of the distribution of allele frequencies using the homozygosity statistic, which gives an indication of past selection pressures, suggests that balancing selection has acted on the DRB1, DQA1, and DQB1 loci. The distribution of DPB1 alleles, however, suggests a different evolutionary past. Family data permits the estimation of recombination rates and the unambiguous assignment of haplotypes. No recombinants were found between DRB1, DQA1, and DQB1; however, recombinants were detected between DQB1 and DPB1, resulting in an estimated recombination fraction of greater than or equal to 0.008 +/- 0.004. Only 33 distinct DRB1-DQA1-DQB1 haplotypes were found in this population which illustrates the extreme nonrandom haplotypic association of alleles at these loci. A few of these haplotypes are unusual (previously unreported) for a Caucasian population and most likely result from past recombination events between the DR and DQ subregions. Examination of disequilibrium across the HLA region using these data and the available serologic HLA-A and HLA-B types of these samples shows that global disequilibrium between these loci declines with the recombination fraction, approaching statistic nonsignificance at the most distant interval, HLA-A to HLA-DP.DR-DQ haplotypes in linkage disequilibrium with DPB1 and B are noted and, finally, the evolutionary origin of certain class II haplotypes is addressed.     

Discordant patterns of linkage disequilibrium of the peptide-transporter loci within the HLA class II region.

Disequilibrium between genetic markers is expected to decline monotonically with recombinational map distance. We present evidence from the HLA class II region that seems to violate this principle. Pairwise disequilibrium values were calculated from six loci ranging in physical separation from 15 kb to 550 kb. The histocompatibility loci DRB1, DQA1, and DQB1, located on the distal end of the class II region, behave as a single evolutionary unit within which extremely high linkage disequilibrium exists. Lower but still significant levels of disequilibrium are present between these loci and DPB1, located at the proximal edge of the HLA complex. The peptide-transporter loci TAP1 and TAP2, located in the intervening region, reveal no disequilibrium with each other and low or negligible disequilibrium with the flanking loci. The action of two genetic process is required to account for this phenomenon: a recombinational hotspot operating between TAP1 and TAP2, to eliminate disequilibrium between these loci, and at the same time selection operating on particular combinations of alleles across the DR-DP region, to create disequilibrium in the favored haplotypes. The forces producing the patterns of disequilibrium observed here have implications for the mapping of train loci and disease genes: markers of TAP1, for example, would give a false impression as to the influence of DPB1 on a trait known to be associated with DQB1.     

Localization of the human GLO gene locus

Summary Data on the linkage relation between the GLO locus and the HLA, Bf, and PGM ₃ loci are presented. The family material includes 49 GLO/HLA-B (and/or Bf) segregating matings with 134 children informative on 199 parental meioses. Of phase-known meioses, 3 are recombinants and 75 nonrecombinants; linkage is therefore proven. From the total material a distance of 2.5 cM between GLO and HLA-B/Bf is calculated; and from the segregation in some informative family groups it is shown that GLO is situated between PGM ₃ and HLA-B/Bf.     

Localization of the genetic defect in familial adenomatous polyposis within a small region of chromosome 5

Familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP), a Mendelian disorder that includes familial polyposis coli (FPC) and Gardner syndrome (GS), has an autosomal dominant mode of inheritance. It is characterized by hundreds to thousands of adenomatous polyps that can progress to carcinoma of the colon, suggesting that the gene that harbors the FAP germ-line mutation may play an important role in the somatic genetic pathway to colon cancer. The defect responsible for FAP was recently mapped to the long arm of chromosome 5 by linkage between the FPC phenotype and a locus defined by DNA probe pC11p11 (D5S71), located at 5q21-22. Because an important next step in the paradigm for identification of a disease gene is to obtain a more precise localization, we isolated and mapped by linkage six additional polymorphic DNA markers in the FAP region. Subsequent linkage analysis in six pedigrees, three having the FPC phenotype and three segregating GS, placed the FAP locus very close to a new marker, YN5.48 (D5S81), that is approximately 17 centimorgans distal to C11p11 on the genetic map. The analysis revealed no evidence of genetic heterogeneity between the two phenotypes, a question that had not been clearly resolved by the earlier studies. The new set of markers in the near vicinity of the FAP locus represents a further step toward isolation of the genetic defect and provides the opportunity for preclinical diagnosis of risk status for colon cancer among individuals in families that are segregating adenomatous polyposis.     

Localization of the Aland Island eye disease locus to the pericentromeric region of the X chromosome by linkage analysis.

Aland Island eye disease (AIED) is an X-chromosomal disorder characterized by reduced visual acuity, progressive axial myopia, regular astigmatism, latent nystagmus, foveal hypoplasia, defective dark adaptation, and fundus hypopigmentation. The syndrome was originally reported in 1964 in a family on the Aland Islands. To determine the localization of the AIED gene, linkage studies were performed in this family. total of 37 polymorphisms, covering loci on the entire X chromosome, were used. By two-point analysis the strongest evidence for linkage was obtained between AIED and DXS255 (maximum lod score [Zmax] 4.92 at maximum recombination fraction [theta max] .00). Marker loci DXS106, DXS159, and DXS1 also showed no recombination with AIED. Other positive lod scores at theta max .00 were obtained with markers localized in the XY homologous region in Xq13-q21, but the numbers of informative meioses were small. Multilocus linkage analysis indicated that the most probable location of AIED is in the pericentromeric region between DXS7 and DXS72. These results rule out localizations of AIED more distal on Xp that have been proposed by others. Our data do not exclude the possibility that AIED and incomplete congenital stationary night blindness are caused by mutations in the same gene. This question should be resolved by careful clinical comparison of the disorders and ultimately by the molecular dissection of the genes themselves.     

A differentially methylated imprinting control region within the Kcnq1 locus harbors a methylation-sensitive chromatin insulator

The mechanisms underlying the phenomenon of genomic imprinting remain poorly understood. In one instance, a differentially methylated imprinting control region (ICR) at the H19 locus has been shown to involve a methylation-sensitive chromatin insulator function that apparently partitions the neighboring Igf2 and H19 genes in different expression domains in a parent of origin-dependent manner. It is not known, however, if this mechanism is unique to the Igf2/H19 locus or if insulator function is a common feature in the regulation of imprinted genes. To address this question, we have studied an ICR in the Kcnq1 locus that regulates long range repression on the paternally derived p57Kip2 and Kcnq1 alleles in an imprinting domain that includes Igf2 and H19. We show that this ICR appears to possess a unidirectional chromatin insulator function in somatic cells of both mesodermal and endodermal origins. Moreover, we document that CpG methylation regulates this insulator function suggesting that a methylation-sensitive chromatin insulator is a common theme in the phenomenon of genomic imprinting.     

Allotypes of murine factor B controlled by a locus within the S region of the H-2 complex

Bf protein was directly precipitated from a mixture of EDTA-plasma from 13 different, inbred strains and rabbit IgG anti-mouse Bf, and was isolated by SDS-PAGE. The gel pieces containing Bf protein were digested by trypsin after labeling with 125I-Na, and then peptides of Bf protein with each mouse strain were compared by two-dimensional peptide mapping. The results for the peptide patterns with the standard B10 congenic strains (all of which Bf phenotypes had been already designated as Bf.1 because of the identical isoelectric point values) revealed two distinct peptide patterns. The peptide pattern of Bf protein appeared to be identical in each of the inbred strains, but only one of the 36 spots in the fingerprint observed either with B10 or B10.BR (designated tentatively as Bf.1 (b.k.) ) was not detected in that from B10.D2 and B10.S (designated tentatively as Bf.1 (d.s.) ). The results of peptide mapping with intra-H-2 recombinant inbred strains show that this structural variant was mapped to the S region, which is direct evidence that allotypes of murine Bf are encoded by a structural gene within the MHC.     

Long-range looping of a locus control region drives tissue-specific chromatin packing within a multigene cluster

The relationships of higher order chromatin organization to mammalian gene expression remain incompletely defined. The human Growth Hormone (hGH) multigene cluster contains five gene paralogs. These genes are selectively activated in either the pituitary or the placenta by distinct components of a remote locus control region (LCR). Prior studies have revealed that appropriate activation of the placental genes is dependent not only on the actions of the LCR, but also on the multigene composition of the cluster itself. Here, we demonstrate that the hGH LCR ‘loops’ over a distance of 28 kb in primary placental nuclei to make specific contacts with the promoters of the two GH genes in the cluster. This long-range interaction sequesters the GH genes from the three hCS genes which co-assemble into a tightly packed ‘hCS chromatin hub’. Elimination of the long-range looping, via specific deletion of the placental LCR components, triggers a dramatic disruption of the hCS chromatin hub. These data reveal a higher-order structural pathway by which long-range looping from an LCR impacts on local chromatin architecture that is linked to tissue-specific gene regulation within a multigene cluster.