Both man & bird & beast: Comparative organization of MHC genes
- Imperial Cancer Research Fund, Holborn, London (United Kingdom)
The major histocompatibility complex (MHC) is the center of the immune universe. Genes in the MHC determine which antigens are processed and presented. Not surprisingly, the MHC contributes the major genetic component to important autoimmune diseases and will no doubt, although evidence is limited, contribute to resistance to infectious disorders. Vertebrates all seem to have MHC genes and it should be possible to determine, within the next few years, whether the clustering of antigen processing and presenting genes in this region is a conserved feature. One could imagine an evolutionary advantage to maintaining the MHC as a unit, either to coordinate expression of the genes in different tissues, or to coordinate T-cell selection during thymic ontogeny, since inheriting a linked set of polymorphic gene products may help to avoid conflicts during positive and negative selection. 153 refs., 9 figs., 3 tabs.
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- OSTI ID:
- 75571
- Journal Information:
- Immunogenetics, Vol. 41, Issue 1; Other Information: PBD: Jan 1995
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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