HLA supertype variation across populations: new insights into the role of natural selection in the evolution of HLA-A and HLA-B polymorphisms.

ABSTRACT: Supertypes are groups of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) alleles which bind overlapping sets of peptides due to sharing specific residues at the anchor positions-the B and F pockets-of the peptide-binding region (PBR). HLA alleles within the same supertype are expected to be functionally similar, while those from different supertypes are expected to be functionally distinct, presenting different sets of peptides. In this study, we applied the supertype classification to the HLA-A and HLA-B data of 55 worldwide populations in order to investigate the effect of natural selection on supertype rather than allelic variation at these loci. We compared the nucleotide diversity of the B and F pockets with that of the other PBR regions through a resampling procedure and compared the patterns of withi

SUBMITTER: Dos Santos Francisco R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4636516 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature