Primary structural variation among serologically indistinguishable DS antigens: the MB3-bearing molecule in DR4 cells differs from the MB3-bearing molecule in DR5 cells.

HLA-DS molecules bearing the MB3 supertypic specificity have been isolated from two DR4 and two DR5 homozygous cell lines by using the monoclonal antibody IVD12 . Limited amino-terminal amino acid sequence analysis of these molecules demonstrates polymorphism of the HLA-DS subregion. Although the distribution of amino-terminal tyrosine residues in the alpha-chains of all IVD12 -reactive molecules was identical, amino-terminal amino acid sequence differences existed between DS beta-chains isolated from these two groups of cell lines bearing different DR specificities. These studies indicate that two DS molecules bearing the same serologic determinant ( MB3 ), although similar to one another, may be structurally distinct.