BACKGROUND: In humans, c antigen expression is associated with a proline re
sidue at amino acid position 103 in the second extracellular loop of the CE
protein. Comparison of nonhuman primate Rh proteins suggested that c react
ivity might actually involve two proline residues. It has been shown that t
he RBCs of New World capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) react with anti-c. To
further define the amino acid residues involved in c expression, Rh cDNA fr
om the capuchin was analyzed.
STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: Rh transcripts were amplified by reverse transcri
ption PCR from RNA isolated from the reticulocytes of a capuchin monkey and
were cloned and sequenced.
RESULTS: Rh transcripts from the capuchin monkey, whose RBCs react with ant
i-c, were found to encode adjacent proline residues at 102 and 103.
CONCLUSION: Sequencing of Rh transcripts from the capuchin monkey supports
the hypothesis that the expression of c requires two adjacent proline resid
ues. Proline causes bends or loops in proteins, which, in this case, might
form a unique, stable structure resistant to perturbations induced by chang
es in upstream or downstream residues. This would explain the scarcity in h
umans of c variants as compared to the other major Rh antigen variants, and
the preservation of c reactivity despite 24-percent divergence between the
human and capuchin Rh proteins.