Detection of Rare Allelic Variants of the Interferon-α2Gene in Human Genomic DNA

Abstract
We have analyzed human donor DNA for the presence of sequences corresponding to allelic variants of the IFN-α2 locus. Using both restriction enzyme digestion of PCR-amplified fragments and sequence analysis of these fragments, we have identified the three reported allelic variants, IFN-α2a, IFN-α2b, and IFN-α2c, in genomic DNA derived from donors of African or Afro-Caribbean origin. This is the first report of the IFN-α2a and IFN-α2c alleles occuring in human donor DNA and supports the view that these are variants of the predominant IFN-α2b allele rather than arising from mutations occurring in cultured cells.
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