| Grant number: | 13/19382-0 |
| Support Opportunities: | Regular Research Grants - Publications - Scientific article |
| Start date: | October 01, 2013 |
| End date: | March 31, 2014 |
| Field of knowledge: | Biological Sciences - Immunology - Immunogenetics |
| Principal Investigator: | Celso Teixeira Mendes Junior |
| Grantee: | Celso Teixeira Mendes Junior |
| Host Institution: | Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto (FFCLRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil |
Abstract
HLA-G plays an important role in the modulation of the maternal immune system during pregnancy, and evidence that balancing selection acts in the promoter and 3'UTR regions has been previously reported. To determine whether selection acts on the HLA-G coding region in the Amazon Rainforest, exons 2, 3 and 4 were analyzed in a sample of 142 Amerindians from nine villages of five isolated tribes that inhabit the Central Amazon. Six previously described SNPs were identified and the EM and PHASE algorithms were used to computationally reconstruct SNP haplotypes (HLA-G alleles). A new HLA-G allele, which originated in Amerindian populations by a crossing-over event between two widespread HLA-G alleles, was identified in 18 individuals. Neutrality tests evidenced that natural selection plays a complex part in the HLA-G coding region. While balancing selection is the type of selection that shapes variability at a local level (Native American populations), we have also shown that purifying selection may occur on a worldwide scale. Moreover, the balancing selection does not seem to act on the coding region as strongly as it acts on the flanking regulatory regions, and such coding signature may actually reflect a hitchhiking effect. (AU)
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