CD45 variant alleles: possibly increased frequency of a novel exon 4 CD45 polymorphism in HIV seropositive Ugandans.
Stanton T., Boxall S., Bennett A., Kaleebu P., Watera C., Whitworth J., French N., Dawes R., Hill AVS., Bodmer W., Beverley PCL., Tchilian EZ.
The CD45 (leucocyte common) antigen is a haemopoietic cell specific tyrosine phosphatase essential for antigen receptor signalling in lymphocytes, and expression of different CD45 isoforms is associated with distinct functions. Here we describe a novel polymorphism in exon 4 (A54G) of the gene encoding CD45 (PTPRC) that results in an amino acid substitution of Thr-19 to Ala in exon 4. The 54G allele was identified in African Ugandan populations and was found with a suggestive but not statistically significant increase in frequency amongst HIV-seropositive Ugandans. This suggests that the 54G variant and CD45 splicing abnormalities might be associated with HIV infection.