SLA Haplotype Analysis of the Yucatan Miniature Pigs in Korea

The porcine MHC (Major Histocompatibility Complex) is known as SLA (Swine Leukocyte Antigen) which controls immune responses from exonic antigens and the major investigated region for the transplantation researches. Recently, many researches concentrated on the use of pig organs and tissues for the xenotransplantation and the miniature pigs are the possible source of xenotransplantation researches due to the high inbreeding status and intensive care of the pigs. In this study, three class I (SLA-1, SLA-3 and SLA-2) genes and three class II (DRB1, DQB1 and DQA) genes were investigated using the PCR-SSP (Polymerase Chain Reaction-Sequence Specific Primer) method. As the results, three SLA class I haplotypes (Lr-4.0, Lr-6.0 and Lr-25.0) and three SLA class II (Lr-0.5, Lr-0.7 and Lr-0.25) haplotypes were identified in 26 Yucatan miniature pigs in Korea. Combining these haplotypes together, two homozygous (Lr-4.5/4.5 and Lr-6.7/6.7) and three heterozygous haplotypes (Lr-4.5/6.7, Lr-4.5/25.25 and Lr-6.7/25.25) were identified. The distribution frequencies of SLA haplotypes were Lr-4.5/4.5 (30.8%), Lr-4.5/6.7 (19.2%), Lr-4.5/25.25 (15.4%), Lr-6.7/6.7 (11.5%) and Lr-6.7/25.25 (23.1%). The SLA alleles in the Yucatan miniature pigs in Korea are segregating in the population. These results will facilitate the selection of SLA homozygous animals for the xenotransplantation researches in the future.