Dog class I gene DLA-88 histocompatibility typing by PCR-SSCP and sequencing

The dog has been an important model for solid organ and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, as well as for studying autoimmune diseases, the grow th of malignant tumors and the immunology of vaccines Fundamental to the co ntinuing usage of the canine model for research is the development of molec ular-based histocompatibility typing. Previous histocompatibility methods h ave focused on class II genes. This study was undertaken to develop a molec ular-based histocompatibility typing method for the most polymorphic class I gene, DLA-88. In this study, polymerase chain reaction single-stranded co nformational polymorphism was used to separate alleles, thereby allowing se quenced-based typing.