ORGANIZATION OF HUMAN FCRII AND FCRII-LIKE (BETA-FCRII) GENES - STRUCTURAL HOMOLOGY TO HLA CLASS-I AND CLASS-II GENES

Genomic EMBL 3 DMA clones representing part of the human Fcγ receptor II and the βFcγ receptor II genes were characterized. One of them contains the first five exons including the 5' flanking region of the βFcRII gene. The signal peptide, the extra-cellular domains, the putative membrane spanning region, and the first amino acids of the cytoplasmic region encoded by these five exons are spread over approximately 11 kb. Another genomic DNA clone comprises four exons encoding the second extra-cellular domain and the transmembrane and cytoplasmic regions of the FcRII. Alignment of the genomic DNA clones reveals that these FcR genes are identically organized. Comparison of the corresponding regions of these clones shows that not only the exons are strikingly homologous but also the splice junctions and parts of the intervening sequences are conserved. Furthermore, the genomic organization of FcRII and HLA-class I resemble each other. © 1990.