Cloning of a human complement component C4 gene.

Six overlapping cosmid clones having an average insert size of 40 kilobase pairs were identified and isolated from a human genomic library by using a cDNA probe, Alu-7, specific for the amino acid sequence of C4d, a known region of the fourth component of human complement. Analysis of these genomic clones by restriction digestion and Southern blotting shows that all six probably contain the same complete C4 gene. Nucleotide sequence comparison of the genomic clone Cos-A and the cDNA clone Alu-7 shows an identical sequence except for the presence of a 1,500-base-pair intron in the genomic sequence. The amino acid sequence predicted from the nucleotide sequence agrees with the known C4d region amino acid sequence with one exception.