PHYSICAL MAP OF HUMAN 6P21.2-6P21.3 - REGION FLANKING THE CENTROMERICEND OF THE MAJOR HISTOCOMPATIBILITY COMPLEX

We have physically mapped and cloned a 2.5-Mb chromosomal segment flan king the centromeric end of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) . We characterized in detail 27 YACs, 144 cosmids, 51 PACs, and 5 BACs , which will facilitate the complete genomic sequencing of tl iis regi on of chromosome 6. The contig contains the genes encoding CSBP, p21, HSU09564 serine kinase, ZNF76, TCP-11, RPSlO, HMGI(Y), BAK, and the hu man homolog of Tctex-7 (HSET). The GLO1 gene was mapped further centro meric in the 6p21.2-6p21.1 region toward TCTE-1. The gene order of the GIO1-HMGI(Y) segment in respect to the centromere is similar to the g ene order in the mouse t-chromosome distal inversion, indicating that there is conservation in gene content but not gene order between human s and mice in this region. The close linkage of the BAK and CSBP genes to the MHC is of interest because of their possible involvement in au toimmune disease.