In the foregoing project, an investigation was made into the relative KIR gene
frequencies of three South African cohorts. Playing an important part in innate
immunity, KIR fill a vital gap between viral onsets and cell mediated humeral
immunity. Being able to sense when cells are abnormal, NK cells possess the ability to
destroy cells which show altered HLA molecules during KIR/HLA interaction.
Ethnic cohorts that were investigated included African black, mixed ancestry and the
Caucasian populations. From these individuals DNA material was extracted using a
âsalting outâ method before SSP-PCR genotyping. Seventeen primer pairs were used
in the identification of individual KIR genes. PCR products were electrophoresed
against a molecular weight marker in order to verify the correct fragment size.
Products were viewed on a UV light where observations were noted, and indicated as
present or absent.
Data was recorded onto a spreadsheet indicating the absence or presence of each
particular gene. Tabulated results were used in the construction of graphs as well as Ï2
calculations. These graphs were used in the critical analysis of linkage disequilibrium
as well as comparative analysis between the ethnic cohorts.
Findings indicate that all framework genes are present in all cohorts. The Black
African and mixed ancestry cohorts have not been genotyped for the KIR genes
before. Investigation within non-framework genes revealed the identification of
several new haplotypes, with the majority observed within the mixed ancestry cohort.
Positive linkage disequilibrium was detected between 2DL2-2DS2 and 2DL5B-2DS5
for both the black African and Caucasian cohorts while 2DL1-2DL2 and 2DL5B-
2DS5 linkages were found in the mixed ancestry population. No negative linkages
were observed for any of the three cohorts.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ufs/oai:etd.uovs.ac.za:etd-10232008-125358 |
| Date | 23 October 2008 |
| Creators | Louw, Marius |
| Contributors | Dr MJ Coetzee, Prof VJ Louw, Dr A de Kock |
| Publisher | University of the Free State |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | en-uk |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.uovs.ac.za//theses/available/etd-10232008-125358/restricted/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University Free State or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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