两栖动物MHC基因研究进展

MHC是高度多态的基因群,广泛分布于各种脊椎动物体内。由于MHC基因的多态性,使其在脊椎动物的免疫、遗传、进化、保护等许多方面的研究倍受关注。本文综述了两栖类MHC基因自研究以来国内外有关该基因的研究报道,包括其结构、功能以及在两栖类遗传进化、种群遗传学、免疫遗传学及抗病中的应用,并对研究前景进行了展望。     

犬类MHC复合体Ⅱ类基因研究进展

概述了犬类MHCⅡ类基因的物理结构图谱,对基因的结构、功能及表达、基因分型方法、基因多态性、基因与疾病的关联研究等作了详细的综述,指明了对犬类MHCⅡ类基因的研究利于其抗病育种,对人类自身免疫性疾病和器官移植等方面具有重要现实意义。     

恒河猴主要组织相容性复合体（MHC）的多态性研究概述

恒河猴是应用最广泛的非人灵长类实验动物,其MHC基因是一个庞大的与免疫功能密切相关的基因群（也称为Mamu基因）,在进化过程形成了Mamu基因不同的存在状态,使得不同个体的Mamu基因在数量和功能上有所差异,同时有些个体还产生了特异性的MHC基因,它的多态性和免疫反应的复杂性相对应。因此,恒河猴MHC多态性的研究,有助于生物科学的发展及指导以恒河猴为动物模型的各种实验。本文主要阐述了恒河猴Mamu基因的结构和功能,以及部分MHC等位基因与疾病的关系,并简要描述了中国恒河猴特异性的MHC基因。     

大鼠主要组织相容性复合体RT1研究进展

主要组织相容性复合体在免疫应答中起着重要作用,其多态性研究及应答机制一直是基础免疫学的热点。大鼠基因组草图已经绘制完成,对于主要组织相容性复合体RT1分子水平的遗传学,基因组学,进化及功能方面的研究日渐深入。本文主要介绍了实验大鼠MHC复合体基因的遗传结构,并绘制了其物理结构图谱。重点阐述大鼠的RT1复合体基因的多态性研究,以及RT1复合体对大鼠的移植模型和复杂疾病模型的意义。     

猪白细胞抗原复合体Ⅰ类和Ⅱ类研究进展

猪主要组织相容性复合体又称猪白细胞抗原复合体（SLA）,是猪基因组中基因密度最高的区域之一,也是多态性最高的区域。许多研究表明SLA在抗原提呈及免疫调节等方面起着重要的作用,其基因及基因组学研究在以猪为替代模型的人-猪器官移植、癌症、变态反应、猪的生产数量性状及对感染性疾病的应答、疫苗研制等方面都是热点。我们就目前Ⅰ类和Ⅱ类SLA分子功能基因多态性及与机体免疫水平、抗病育种和生产性状的相关性作一综述。     

濒危动物主要组织相容性复合体基因的研究现状及前景

主要组织相容性复合体（MHC）基因是脊椎动物体内与免疫应答调节密切相关的一个基因家族,由紧密连锁的高度多态性基因座位组成。MHC基因具有高变异性,在机体免疫系统中发挥着非常重要的作用,而且与物种的抗病性和易感性,以及种群繁殖力和生存力密切相关。对MHC基因进行研究,在种群遗传学,特别是濒危动物的保护遗传学中具有独特的优势和应用前景。     

爬行动物MHC基因研究进展

主要组织相容性复合体(MHC)是有颌脊椎动物中发现的编码免疫球蛋白受体的高度多态的基因群,因其在免疫系统中的重要作用而备受关注。脊椎动物不同支系间MHC的结构和演化差异较大。尽管MHC基因特征在哺乳类、鸟类、两栖类和鱼类中已被较好地描述,但对爬行动物MHC的了解仍较少。鉴于爬行动物对于理解MHC基因的演化占据很重要的系统发育位置,研究其MHC具有重要意义。本文就近年来爬行动物MHC的分子结构、多态性维持机制、功能和主要应用的研究现状进行了系统地回顾和总结,并展望了其研究前景。     

大鲵MHCⅡB基因SNP位点筛选及与抗虹彩病毒性状关联分析

主要组织相容性复合体(major histocompatibility complex, MHC)是位于脊椎动物染色体特定区域,编码主要组织相容性抗原的重要连锁基因群,具有调控细胞识别、激活免疫应答及调节特定病理反应等生理作用。其中,MHCⅡ类基因的多态性最高,是研究遗传、进化以及抗病育种标记的热点基因。然而,在大鲵虹彩病毒感染过程中MHC基因的表达和抗病机制尚不完全明确。本研究以1龄幼鲵作为研究对象,克隆得到MHCⅡB基因cDNA片段共1 010 bp,通过对比易感组和抗病组组织表达谱差异及候选基因序列结构特征,从而筛选抗病相关的SNP位点。结果显示,易感组中MHCⅡB基因在各组织中的m RNA表达量均显著高于抗病组,其中在皮肤组织中表达最高,为(55.715 2±0.01)。对比易感组和抗病组MHCⅡB基因序列信息,共筛选出6个候选SNP位点,占基因总碱基数的0.6%,包括4个转换位点和2个颠换位点。其中5’UTR区有1个,基因编码区有2个,3’UTR区有3个。位于基因编码区214 bp处的G/A颠换(G214A)为同义突变,而611 bp处的A/T转换(A611T)为错义突变,使抗病组该位点的苏氨酸突变为丝氨酸。蛋白质二级结构分析显示,突变后的二级结构中α螺旋增比最大,增幅近20%。本研究结果表明大鲵MHCⅡB基因参与机体虹彩病毒免疫应答过程,其多态性与抗病性状存在一定的关联性。     

家禽MHC结构研究进展

禽主要组织相容性复合体(Major histocompatibility complex,MHC)的结构与禽病防控、禽免疫学、禽类遗传学研究密切相关。文章对鸡、火鸡、鹌鹑、鸭和鹅的MHC结构方面的研究进展进行了综述,表明其有以下共同特点:都有保守的MHC区域,包括MHC I基因和MHC II基因及一些功能未知基因;基因排列简单而紧凑;MHC I基因内含子的长度都比哺乳动物小;鸡、火鸡、鸭和鹅的MHC I基因组序列都有8个外显子和7个内含子,MHC IIβ基因组序列都有6个外显子和5个内含子;鸡、火鸡和鹌鹑的BG基因结构模式相同;都存在微卫星重复单元。但也存在种属差异:鸡的MHC I基因和MHC II基因是双拷贝,而鸭、鹅和鹌鹑有若干个拷贝;BG基因的拷贝数及其外显子数目不同。对主要家禽MHC结构进行分析比较,将有利于对禽病学及禽免疫遗传学的进究。     

MICA 基因与肿瘤免疫关系的研究进展

MICA是主要组织相容性复合体I类分子链相关基因(MHC class I chain-related Gene,MIC)家族的功能性基因之一,具有较高的多态性。MICA蛋白在多数正常组织中并不表达,只在正常的胃肠道上皮和大多数上皮性肿瘤细胞表达。MICA可与C型凝集素样活化性受体NKG2D结合,从而影响多种免疫效应细胞的功能,在肿瘤免疫中发挥着重要作用。本文就MICA基因与肿瘤免疫关系的研究进展进行综述。     

MHC motif viewer

In vertebrates, the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) presents peptides to the immune system. In humans, MHCs are called human leukocyte antigens (HLAs), and some of the loci encoding them are the most polymorphic in the human genome. Different MHC molecules present different subsets of peptides, and knowledge of their binding specificities is important for understanding the differences in the immune response between individuals. Knowledge of motifs may be used to identify epitopes, to understand the MHC restriction of epitopes, and to compare the specificities of different MHC molecules. Algorithms that predict which peptides MHC molecules bind have recently been developed and cover many different alleles, but the utility of these algorithms is hampered by the lack of tools for browsing and comparing the specificity of these molecules. We have, therefore, developed a web server, MHC motif viewer, that allows the display of the likely binding motif for all human class I proteins of the loci HLA A, B, C, and E and for MHC class I molecules from chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes), rhesus monkey (Macaca mulatta), and mouse (Mus musculus). Furthermore, it covers all HLA-DR protein sequences. A special viewing feature, MHC fight, allows for display of the specificity of two different MHC molecules side by side. We show how the web server can be used to discover and display surprising similarities as well as differences between MHC molecules within and between different species. The MHC motif viewer is available at .     

Analysis of MHC class I genes across horse MHC haplotypes

The genomic sequences of 15 horse major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I genes and a collection of MHC class I homozygous horses of five different haplotypes were used to investigate the genomic structure and polymorphism of the equine MHC. A combination of conserved and locus-specific primers was used to amplify horse MHC class I genes with classical and nonclassical characteristics. Multiple clones from each haplotype identified three to five classical sequences per homozygous animal and two to three nonclassical sequences. Phylogenetic analysis was applied to these sequences, and groups were identified which appear to be allelic series, but some sequences were left ungrouped. Sequences determined from MHC class I heterozygous horses and previously described MHC class I sequences were then added, representing a total of ten horse MHC haplotypes. These results were consistent with those obtained from the MHC homozygous horses alone, and 30 classical sequences were assigned to four previously confirmed loci and three new provisional loci. The nonclassical genes had few alleles and the classical genes had higher levels of allelic polymorphism. Alleles for two classical loci with the expected pattern of polymorphism were found in the majority of haplotypes tested, but alleles at two other commonly detected loci had more variation outside of the hypervariable region than within. Our data indicate that the equine major histocompatibility complex is characterized by variation in the complement of class I genes expressed in different haplotypes in addition to the expected allelic polymorphism within loci.     

Balancing selection and MHC

The MHC is highly polymorphic in most vertebrates and the suggested selective mechanisms responsible for the maintenance of this variation are several, including maternal‐fetal interaction, parasite resistance, and negative-assortative mating. Evidence for these mechanisms is reviewed and estimates of the amount of selection in a number of studies are given. Although there is much yet to be understood about the mechanism and extent of balancing selection at MHC, new advances in molecular genetic technology and increasing interest in MHC from many types of biologists promise answers in the near future. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

MHC class I multimers

T lymphocytes play a key role in the immune response to both foreign and self peptide antigens, which they recognize in combination with MHC molecules. In the past it has been difficult to analyse objectively the specificity, frequency and intensity of T cell responses. The recent application of fluorescent-labelled MHC class I multimers, however, has provided a powerful experimental approach to the direct visualisation of antigen-specific T cells. As a result, our perspective of how T cells respond to both viruses and other antigens in vivo has been greatly enhanced.     

Learning MHC I--peptide binding

MOTIVATION AND RESULTS: Motivated by the ability of a simple threading approach to predict MHC I--peptide binding, we developed a new and improved structure-based model for which parameters can be estimated from additional sources of data about MHC-peptide binding. In addition to the known 3D structures of a small number of MHC-peptide complexes that were used in the original threading approach, we included three other sources of information on peptide-MHC binding: (1) MHC class I sequences; (2) known binding energies for a large number of MHC-peptide complexes; and (3) an even larger binary dataset that contains information about strong binders (epitopes) and non-binders (peptides that have a low affinity for a particular MHC molecule). Our model significantly outperforms the standard threading approach in binding energy prediction. In our approach, which we call adaptive double threading, the parameters of the threading model are learnable, and both MHC and peptide sequences can be threaded onto structures of other alleles. These two properties make our model appropriate for predicting binding for alleles for which very little data (if any) is available beyond just their sequence, including prediction for alleles for which 3D structures are not available. The ability of our model to generalize beyond the MHC types for which training data is available also separates our approach from epitope prediction methods which treat MHC alleles as symbolic types, rather than biological sequences. We used the trained binding energy predictor to study viral infections in 246 HIV patients from the West Australian cohort, and over 1000 sequences in HIV clade B from Los Alamos National Laboratory database, capturing the course of HIV evolution over the last 20 years. Finally, we illustrate short-, medium-, and long-term adaptation of HIV to the human immune system. AVAILABILITY: http://www.research.microsoft.com/~jojic/hlaBinding.html.     

The ABCs of MHC

The major histocompatibility complex (MHC) contains the most diverse genes known in vertebrates. These genes encode cell‐surface molecules that play a central role in controlling immunological activity and, as a consequence, in tissue rejection, autoimmunity, and immune responses to infectious diseases. In vertebrates, there are many different MHC genes, most with many alleles. This is true for all primates studied thus far. Multiple loci and alleles allow for an increased peptide‐binding repertoire; their variety has a profound impact on an organism's ability to battle constantly evolving pathogens. The argument that infectious disease is a driving force for MHC variability is supported by observations that most of the allelic variation centers on the amino acid residues that directly interact with foreign peptides. However, while MHC diversity could be maintained through heterozygote advantage, frequency‐dependent selection, or both, the direct evidence that natural selection enhances diversity is limited. Indeed, it is not wholly clear whether selection operates only with respect to disease resistance or if behavioral and biological mechanisms also contribute to the extreme variation that has been observed for many species. Furthermore, reproductive behavior and biology may also help to maintain genetic variability at MHC loci.     

Sex and the MHC

Major histocompatibility complex class Ib molecules may play a surprising role in pheromone detection in mammals.