Pérez-Rodríguez M, Corell A, Argüello J R, Cox S T, McWhinnie A, Marsh S G, Madrigal J A
Anthony Nolan Research Institute, The Royal Free Hospital, London, United Kingdom.
Tissue Antigens. 2000 Feb;55(2):162-5. doi: 10.1034/j.1399-0039.2000.550209.x.
The MICA and MICB genes code for protein products that have structural similarities to major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I genes. These genes are upregulated by heat stress. They have been shown to interact with a common receptor (NKG2D/DAP10) on gammadelta T cells, CD8+ T cells and natural killer (NK) cells. The MICA gene has an expressed microsatellite, GCT, within the exon 5 which encodes for alanine. So far, four different repetitions of this short tandem have been reported. Also one non-synonymous, one synonymous substitution and a 1-bp insertion within this region have also been described. An association of Behcet's disease with the microsatellite A9 has been reported. Here we report a novel allele with 10 GCT repetitions (A10) which was detected by reference strand mediated conformation analysis and confirmed by DNA sequencing.
