Report from the killer immunoglobulin-like receptor (KIR) anthropology component of the 15th International Histocompatibility Workshop: worldwide variation in the KIR loci and further evidence for the co-evolution of KIR and HLA

Abstract

The killer immunoglobulin-like receptor (KIR) anthropology component of the 15th International Histocompatibility Workshop (IHIWS) sought to explore worldwide population variation in the KIR loci, and to examine the relationship between KIR genes and their human leukocyte antigen (HLA) ligands. Fifteen laboratories submitted KIR genotype and HLA ligand data in 27 populations from six broad ethnic groups. Data were analyzed for correlations between the frequencies of KIR and their known HLA ligands. In addition, allelic typing was performed for KIR2DL2 and 3DL1 in a subset of populations. Strong and significant correlations were observed between KIR2DL2, 2DL3 genotype frequencies and the frequency of their ligand, HLA-C1. In contrast, only weak associations were seen for 3DL1, 3DS1 and the HLA-Bw4 ligand. Although some aspects of the correlations observed here differ from those reported in other populations, these data provide additional evidence of linked evolutionary histories for some KIR and HLA loci. Investigation of allele-level variation for the B haplotype locus KIR 2DL2 showed that two alleles, *001 and *003, predominate in all populations in this study. Much more allelic variation was observed for the A haplotype locus 3DL1, with several alleles observed at moderate frequencies and extensive variation observed between populations.

Killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptor gene diversity in the Tibetan ethnic minority group of China

“…Hollenbach et al analyzed the data of KIR genotype and HLA ligand in 27 populations from six broad ethnic groups. In their study, weak associations were seen for 3DL1 and the HLA-Bw4 ligand [62].…”

The extreme plasticity of killer cell Ig‐like receptor (KIR) haplotypes differentiates rhesus macaques from humans

“…Moreover, due to the availability of KIR sequencespecific primer typing assays, many laboratories have examined the gene content in different human ethnic populations [28,40]. Furthermore, large numbers of transplantation donors and recipients are currently routinely screened for their KIR genotype, as are cohorts of patients and control individuals in disease association studies.…”

Recurrent Pregnancy Loss in Women with Killer Cell Immunoglobulin-Like Receptor KIR2DS1 is Associated with an Increased HLA-C2 Allelic Frequency

“…The percentage was comparable with the KIR2DS1 frequencies previously reported for N. American Caucasian populations. 42,43 We evaluated the co-expression of KIR2DS1 and its cognate ligand, HLA-C2, in the RPL cohort as it is known that HLA-C background affects the functional activity of KIR2DS1 expressing NK cells. 20,21 A significant difference was revealed in the HLA-C1 and HLA-C2 distribution between KIR2DS1-positive (KIR2DS1pos) and KIR2DS1-negative (KIR2DS1neg) groups of RPL women, that is, the presence of KIR2DS1 was associated with a higher allelic frequency of HLA-C2 (chi-square test, P = 0.014, P corr = 0.027) ( Table V).…”