Use of Southern blotting to analyze the size and restriction fragment polymorphism of HLA class I DNA in the human population

The Southern blotting technique can be used to detect polymorphisms within the HLA class I gene family and indicates that the class I family includes genes in addition to HLA-A and B. The class I sequences, in addition to HLA-A and B, appear to differ from the A and B loci in that they are much less polymorphic. It is likely that this represents a functional difference. Studying the structural differences and the mechanisms involved in controlling the expression of the different members of the class I family will not only add to our information about HLA-A and B, but allow us to study proteins related to these histocompatibility antigens, which, to date, have eluded the more traditional methods of study.