A new MICA allele with ten alanine residues in the exon 5 microsatellite

Abstract
Acknowledgments: This work is funded by the Anthony Nolan Bone Marrow Trust. We thank Dr. Gaby Fischer for technical support and critical reading of this manuscript. The MICA and MICB genes code for protein products that have structural similarities to major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I genes. These genes are upregulated by heat stress. They have been shown to interact with a common receptor (NKG2D/DAP10) on γδ T cells, CD8+ T cells and natural killer (NK) cells. The MICA gene has an expressed microsatellite, GCT, within the exon 5 which encodes for alanine. So far, four different repetitions of this short tandem have been reported. Also one non‐synonymous, one synonymous substitution and a 1‐bp insertion within this region have also been described. An association of Behçet’s disease with the microsatellite A9 has been reported. Here we report a novel allele with 10 GCT repetitions (A10) which was detected by reference strand mediated conformation analysis and confirmed by DNA sequencing.