MHC class I allele frequencies in pigtail macaques of diverse origin

Abstract

Pigtail macaques (Macaca nemestrina) are an increasingly common primate model for the study of human AIDS. Major Histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I-restricted CD8+ T cell responses are a critical part of the adaptive immune response to HIV-1 in humans and simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) in macaques; however, MHC class I alleles have not yet been comprehensively characterized in pigtail macaques. The frequencies of ten previously defined alleles (four Mane-A and six Mane-B) were investigated in detail in 109 pigtail macaques using reference strand-mediated conformational analysis (RSCA). The macaques were derived from three separate breeding colonies in the USA, Indonesia and Austra..