COMPARISON OF THE HAPLOTYPES OF THE MAJOR HISTOCOMPATIBILITY COMPLEX IN THE RAT

Abstract

Two haplotypes which posed difficult problems in serological identification, those of the HW and MNR/N strains, were studied. The HW strain was originally described as a unique haplotype (H-1h), but breeding difficulties precluded its detailed serological analysis. The red blood cells of the HW strain agglutinate weakly and cross-react with antisera to the Ag-B8 group. Anti-HW antisera cross-react strongly with LEW, ACI and WKA, but absorption with these strains did not produce an adequate typing serum. By judicious selection of recipients, however, an appropriate typing reagent could be made; a particularly useful one was (BUF X MR)F1 anti-HW absorbed with WKA red blood cells. The HW haplotype segregated appropriately in a (DA X HW)F2 population. The HW strain is a low responder to poly(Glu52Lys33Tyr15). The H-1h haplotype of this strain was designated Ag-B12. The MNR/N strain had not previously been studied serologically, although its MLR type had been defined as H-1c (MLR-5). Antisera to MNR/N cross-reacted strongly with the H-1a,b,d,f haplotypes, but MNR/N red blood cells agglutinated only weakly with many antisera. An operationally monospecific reagent antiserum to the MNR/N haplotype could not be made. The uniqueness of the MNR/N haplotype was shown by F1 tests with LEW.1A, LEW.1D and LEW.1F, by various serological analyses, including production of antisera against MNR/N and in the MR strain; by segregation studies with (LEW X LEW.1D)N5 and (DA X DA.MNR)N4 segregating back-cross populations, and by grafting skin from (DA X DA.MNR)N4 homozygous and heterozygous animals to DA recipients. The MNR/N strain is a high-responder to poly(Glu52Lys33Tyr15). The MNR/N haplotype of this strain was designated Ag-B13 (H-1m). The data led to the working hypothesis that the MNR/N strain may be a recombination between the A region of H-1d and the B region of H-1c. In addition, the H-1d private specificity at the A region was probably lost by a deletion mutation which left the main complex of public specificities intact.