Isolation and Antigenic Characterization of the Product of a Third Polymorphic H-2 Locus, H-2L

The serology, immunochemistry, and genetics of the product(s) of a third H-2 locus, H-2L (previously designated D') have been studied by using an antiserum raised in BALB/c-H-2^db mutant mice against tissues from the wild type strain, BALB/c. Genetic mapping studies and sequential immunoprecipitation experiments both indicate that this antiserum reacts specifically with L molecules. These results imply that an H-2L product is anti-genically undetectable in BALB/c-H-2^db mice and that the lesion in this mutant is confined to the H-2L and not the H-2D locus. Two new specificities, H-2.64 and H-2.65, are defined by the reactivity of anti-L serum on allogeneic cells, and the strain distribution of these specificities suggests the existence of at least three H-2L alleles. This third H-2 locus is therefore polymorphic and in view of this and other similarities to the H-2K and H-2D loci, it must be considered in any evolutionary models dealing with the origin of multiple subloci of the major histocompatibility complex.