Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “MHC”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources

Immunogenicity of Torpedo acetylcholine receptor in the context of different rat MHC class II haplotypes and non-MHC genomes.

The nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) is the autoantigen in seropositive myasthenia gravis (MG), a T-cell-dependent B-cell-mediated autoimmune disease. The nAChR is a pentameric transmembrane receptor comprising alpha alpha beta gamma delta chains. During early postnatal development the nAChR gamma chain is replaced by the nAChR epsilon chain. We tested the myasthenogenicity in experimental autoimmune myasthenia gravis (EAMG) of the native nAChR derived from the electric ray Torpedo californica (T-nAChR) in various inbred and MHC -congenic rat strains. Differences in the disease course emerged dependent on the MHC haplotype and non-MHC genes. Interestingly, no tested rat strain was completely resistant to EAMG, but there were strong differences in disease severity mainly depending on the MHC haplotype. In the LEW non-MHC genome, the B-cell response and the severity of EAMG were dependent on the expressed MHC haplotype. This study underscores the influence of genetic factors on disease severity, disease course and on the degree of the emerging antibody responses in EAMG.

Animals↗

Mice lacking the MHC class II transactivator (CIITA) show tissue-specific impairment of MHC class II expression.

CIITA activates the expression of multiple genes involved in antigen presentation and it is believed to be required for both constitutive and IFN gamma-inducible expression of these genes. To understand the role of CIITA in vivo, we have used gene targeting to generate mice that lack CIITA. CIITA-deficient (-/-) mice do not express conventional MHC class II molecules on the surface of splenic B cells and dendritic cells. In addition, macrophages resident in the peritoneal cavity do not express MHC class II molecules upon IFN gamma stimulation nor do somatic tissues of mice injected with IFN gamma, in contrast with wild-type mice. The levels of Ii and H-2M gene transcripts are substantially decreased but absent in CIITA (-/-) mice. The transcription of nonconventional MHC class II genes is, however not affected by CIITA deficiency. A subset of thymic epithelial cells express MHC class II molecules. Nonetheless, very few mature CD4 T cells are present in the periphery of CIITA (-/-) mice despite MHC class II expression in the thymus. Consequently, CIITA(-/-) mice are impaired in T-dependent antigen responses and MHC class II-mediated allogeneic responses.

Animals↗

Proceedings of the SMBE Tri-National Young Investigators' Workshop 2005. MHC Class I genes in the Tuatara (Sphenodon spp.): evolution of the MHC in an ancient reptilian order.

The major histocompatibility complex (MHC) is an extremely dynamic region of the genome, characterized by high polymorphism and frequent gene duplications and rearrangements. This has resulted in considerable differences in MHC organization and evolution among vertebrate lineages, particularly between birds and mammals. As nonavian reptiles are ancestral to both mammals and birds, they occupy an important phylogenetic position for understanding these differences. However, little is known about reptile MHC genes. To address this, we have characterized MHC class I sequences from the tuatara (Sphenodon spp.), the last survivor of an ancient order of reptiles, Sphenodontia. We isolated two different class I cDNA sequences, which share 93% sequence similarity with each other but are highly divergent from other vertebrate MHC genes. Southern blotting and polymerase chain reaction amplification of class I sequences from seven adult tuatara plus a family group indicate that these sequences represent at least two to three loci. Preliminary analysis of variation among individuals from an island population of tuatara indicates that these loci are highly polymorphic. Maximum likelihood analysis of reptile MHC class I sequences indicates that gene duplication has occurred within reptilian orders. However, the evolutionary relationships among sequences from different reptilian orders cannot be resolved, reflecting the antiquity of the major reptile lineages.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

The impact of the non-classical MHC proteins HLA-DM and HLA-DO on loading of MHC class II molecules.

Peptide binding to classical major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II molecules is known to be determined by the properties of the class II peptide binding groove but recently it turned out to be co-controlled by the activity of the non-classical MHC molecules HLA-DM and HLA-DO: HLA-DM functions as a mediator of peptide exchange. In addition, HLA-DM is a chaperone for MHC class II molecules in endosomal and lysosomal loading compartments because it stabilizes the empty MHC class II peptide binding groove and keeps it receptive for peptide loading until appropriate peptide ligands are captured. Since HLA-DM favors the generation of high-stability peptide-MHC class II complexes by releasing low-stability peptide ligands, DM activity affects the peptide repertoire presented on the cell surface of antigen-presenting cells. HLA-DO is expressed mainly in B cells and binds tightly to HLA-DM thereby modulating its activity. Together, HLA-DM and HLA-DO are critical factors in shaping the MHC class II-associated self or foreign peptide repertoire of antigen presenting cells and, hence, govern initiation or prevention of an immune response.

Antigen Presentation↗

CIITA leucine-rich repeats control nuclear localization, in vivo recruitment to the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II enhanceosome, and MHC class II gene transactivation.

The major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II transactivator CIITA plays a pivotal role in the control of the cellular immune response through the quantitative regulation of MHC class II expression. We have analyzed a region of CIITA with similarity to leucine-rich repeats (LRRs). CIITA LRR alanine mutations abolish both the transactivation capacity of full-length CIITA and the dominant-negative phenotype of CIITA mutants with N-terminal deletions. We demonstrate direct interaction of CIITA with the MHC class II promoter binding protein RFX5 and could also detect novel interactions with RFXANK, NF-YB, and -YC. However, none of these interactions is influenced by CIITA LRR mutagenesis. On the other hand, chromatin immunoprecipitation shows that in vivo binding of CIITA to the MHC class II promoter is dependent on LRR integrity. LRR mutations lead to an impaired nuclear localization of CIITA, indicating that a major function of the CIITA LRRs is in nucleocytoplasmic translocation. There is, however, evidence that the CIITA LRRs are also involved more directly in MHC class II gene transactivation. CIITA interacts with a novel protein of 33 kDa in a manner sensitive to LRR mutagenesis. CIITA is therefore imported into the nucleus by an LRR-dependent mechanism, where it activates transcription through multiple protein-protein interactions with the MHC class II promoter binding complex.

Active Transport, Cell Nucleus↗

Natural killer cells play a role in MHC class I in vivo induction in tumor cells that are MHC negative in vitro.

The natural killer (NK) cell is one of the key cells in discriminating major histocompatibility complex (MHC) negative 'missing-self' target tumor cells, and interleukin 2 (IL-2) treatment was effective in inducing NK cell activation. In this study, we tried to clarify how poorly-immunogenic murine B16 melanoma could be discriminated in vivo by creating an IL-2 cDNA-transduced immunogene therapy model (B16/IL-2). In vitro study showed that IL-2 introduction did not induce MHC class I. However, immune cells depleted total tumor digest, which consisted of 90% anti-melanoma MM2-9B6-positive cells that revealed B16/IL-2 strongly, and control tumor cells (B16/mock) partially expressed MHC class I in vivo. In the B16/IL-2 model, NK cell infiltration was 10 times higher than B16/mock (7.6 versus 0.73, p=0.017). In addition, the cell surface of CD69-expressing NK cell population was increased in B16/IL-2, and the interferon gamma (IFNgamma) message level in NK cells was significantly increased in B16/IL-2 (p=0.0359). Interestingly, NK cell depletion in vivo completely abolished MHC class I expression on B16/mock, and decreased MHC class I expression and T-cell infiltration in B16/IL-2. These data suggest that NK cells are not only important for missing-self recognition, but are also crucial for induction of tumor cell MHC molecule expression and play an important role in helping acquired immunity to recognize tumor cells.

Animals↗

Electroporation of exogenous antigen into the cytosol for antigen processing and class I major histocompatibility complex (MHC) presentation: weak base amines and hypothermia (18 degrees C) inhibit the class I MHC processing pathway.

While endogenous antigens are presented by class I major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules, exogenous antigens generally require a means for penetration into the cytosol for processing prior to class I MHC presentation. We have optimized conditions for electroporation as a means to experimentally introduce exogenous antigens into the cytosol, providing a system with a number of advantages for dissecting the class I MHC processing pathway. Presentation was assessed by the response of class I or class II MHC-restricted T hybridoma cells. Essentially instantaneous antigen delivery by electroporation facilitated kinetic analysis of the class I pathway and investigation of the effects of various inhibitors or hypothermic conditions on class I MHC antigen processing. This pathway was inhibited by weak base amines (e.g. chloroquine and NH4Cl), cycloheximide, and hypothermia (18 degrees C, which inhibits certain intracellular vesicular processing pathways). The electroporation technique provides a simple, consistent approach for rapid cytosolic antigen delivery for analysis of class I MHC processing.

Ammonium Chloride↗

Ab initio prediction of peptide-MHC binding geometry for diverse class I MHC allotypes.

Since determining the crystallographic structure of all peptide-MHC complexes is infeasible, an accurate prediction of the conformation is a critical computational problem. These models can be useful for determining binding energetics, predicting the structures of specific ternary complexes with T-cell receptors, and designing new molecules interacting with these complexes. The main difficulties are (1) adequate sampling of the large number of conformational degrees of freedom for the flexible peptide, (2) predicting subtle changes in the MHC interface geometry upon binding, and (3) building models for numerous MHC allotypes without known structures. Whereas previous studies have approached the sampling problem by dividing the conformational variables into different sets and predicting them separately, we have refined the Biased-Probability Monte Carlo docking protocol in internal coordinates to optimize a physical energy function for all peptide variables simultaneously. We also imitated the induced fit by docking into a more permissive smooth grid representation of the MHC followed by refinement and reranking using an all-atom MHC model. Our method was tested by a comparison of the results of cross-docking 14 peptides into HLA-A*0201 and 9 peptides into H-2K(b) as well as docking peptides into homology models for five different HLA allotypes with a comprehensive set of experimental structures. The surprisingly accurate prediction (0.75 A backbone RMSD) for cross-docking of a highly flexible decapeptide, dissimilar to the original bound peptide, as well as docking predictions using homology models for two allotypes with low average backbone RMSDs of less than 1.0 A illustrate the method's effectiveness. Finally, energy terms calculated using the predicted structures were combined with supervised learning on a large data set to classify peptides as either HLA-A*0201 binders or nonbinders. In contrast with sequence-based prediction methods, this model was also able to predict the binding affinity for peptides to a different MHC allotype (H-2K(b)), not used for training, with comparable prediction accuracy.

Binding Sites↗

Alloreactivity of an OVA-specific T-cell clone. I. Stimulation by class II MHC and novel non-MHC B-cell determinants.

A T-cell clone (Ly1-03) derived from BALB/cBy mice, though highly specific for OVA/Ad, reacted to allogeneic spleen cells of 6 of 12 H-2 haplotypes tested. The reactivity to each particular H-2 haplotype required the expression of a non-major histocompatibility complex (MHC) gene product present on the B cells of certain strains of mice. All the alloreactive responses were MHC restricted and were inhibited by class II-specific and L3T4-specific monoclonal antibodies. The non-MHC gene product, X, is a new lymphocyte-stimulating determinant that is not expressed in mice with the xid defect. We favor a model that proposes two independent sites (or receptors) for X and the class II molecule. Contrary to previous models for alloreactivity, the anti-MHC site is not directed to a polymorphic receptor for self-class II epitope on the foreign class II molecule, but rather to a conserved determinant present on both self- and allo-class II molecules. If there is only one antigen receptor on the T-cell clone Ly1-03, then anti-X receptor must bind to a cross-reactive determinant found on immunogenic OVA and the non-MHC coded gene product expressed on the cell surface membrane. We further postulate that class II plus "X" recognition may be a general rule for alloreactive as well as autoreactive responses. Thus, both allo-class II and allo-class I reactive T cells are similar in that both bind a non-MHC coded gene product prior to activation.

Animals↗

MHC-BPS: MHC-binder prediction server for identifying peptides of flexible lengths from sequence-derived physicochemical properties.

Major histocompatibility complex (MHC)-binding peptides are essential for antigen recognition by T-cell receptors and are being explored for vaccine design. Computational methods have been developed for predicting MHC-binding peptides of fixed lengths, based on the training of relatively few non-binders. It is desirable to introduce methods applicable for peptides of flexible lengths and trained by using more diverse sets of non-binders. MHC-BPS is a web-based MHC-binder prediction server that uses support vector machines for predicting peptide binders of flexible lengths for 18 MHC class I and 12 class II alleles from sequence-derived physicochemical properties, which were trained by using 4,208 approximately 3,252 binders and 234,333 approximately 168,793 non-binders, and evaluated by an independent set of 545 approximately 476 binders and 110,564 approximately 84,430 non-binders. The binder prediction accuracies are 86 approximately 99% for 25 and 70 approximately 80% for five alleles, and the non-binder accuracies are 96 approximately 99% for 30 alleles. A screening of HIV-1 genome identifies 0.01 approximately 5% and 5 approximately 8% of the constituent peptides as binders for 24 and 6 alleles, respectively, including 75 approximately 100% of the known epitopes. This method correctly predicts 73.3% of the 15 newly published epitopes in the last 4 months of 2005. MHC-BPS is available at http://bidd.cz3.nus.edu.sg/mhc/ .

Algorithms↗

Neonatal tolerance induction in the thymus to MHC-class II-associated antigens. II. Significance of MHC antigens in anti-Mls tolerance.

Specificity of anti-Mlsa tolerance induced in BALB/c (H-2d, Mlsb) neonates was investigated by a popliteal lymph node (PLN)-swelling assay for the local graft-versus-host (GVH) reaction by injecting tolerant thymus cells into the footpads of several types of F1 hybrid mice. When thymus cells were obtained from 1-week-old normal BALB/c, they evoked enlargement of PLNs of (BALB/c X DBA/2)F1 (H-2d, Mlsb/a) [CDF1] recipients and of other hybrid recipients, heterozygous in Mlsa,c,d alleles, irrespective of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) haplotypes. The same thymus cells did not cause the response in MHC-heterozygous F1 hybrids when the hybrids were homozygous in Mlsb, identical with BALB/c mice. Therefore, the PLN response to Mls antigens, known to be closely associated with MHC-class II antigens, was not directed to the class II antigens themselves. This enabled us to examine the effects of MHC on tolerance induction to the Mls antigens. When BALB/c neonates were injected with CDF1 bone marrow cells, complete tolerance to Mlsa-H-2d antigens of CDF1 cells was induced in the thymus, while responsiveness to Mlsa antigens in the context of H-2k and H-2b antigens, was not affected. This indicates MHC-restriction of neonatal tolerance to Mls antigens. Furthermore, when Mls and H-2-heterozygous (BALB/c X AKR)F1 (H-2d/k, Mlsb/a) bone marrow cells served as the tolerogen, thymus cells of BALB/c neonates were also tolerized to Mlsa-H-2k antigens as well as to Mlsa-H-2d antigens, which suggests the involvement of MHC, probably class II antigens of tolerance-inducing cells.

Animals↗

Abnormal expression of class II MHC antigens in placentae from patients with pemphigoid gestationis: analysis of class II MHC subregion product expression.

Abnormal expression of class II MHC antigens was consistently observed in an immunohistological study on placentae from patients with pemphigoid gestationis. The area affected in all the placentae was the chorionic villi adjacent to the maternal decidua. The villous stroma, and in some cases the chorionic fetal endothelium, had abnormal expression of class II MHC antigens. Monoclonal antibodies specific for the class II MHC subregion products (DR, DP and DQ) were used to analyse the class II MHC antigen expression. Differential expression of the class II MHC subregion products was observed on the villous stroma and chorionic fetal endothelium; DR and DP were always expressed but DQ in some cases was heterogeneous. This abnormal expression of class II MHC antigens may reflect an immunological attack on the placenta in pemphigoid gestationis.

Antibodies, Monoclonal↗

Mycobacterium leprae 65hsp antigen expressed from a retroviral vector in a macrophage cell line is presented to T cells in association with MHC class II in addition to MHC class I.

Mycobacterium leprae lives free in the cytoplasm in infected macrophages. To test if an M. leprae antigen released into the cytoplasm would associate with major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II we introduced the gene encoding the 65 kDa heat-shock protein (ML65hsp) into a retroviral shuttle vector (pZIPNeoSV(X)) and transfected the murine macrophage cell line J774G8. S1 nuclease mapping and Western blot analysis of the transfected cell line (CJ11) showed that specific messenger RNA and ML65hsp antigen were stably expressed. Presence of antigen at the cell surface was demonstrated by flow cytometric analysis with specific monoclonal antibodies (mAb). Antigen-specific T lymphocytes were stimulated by CJ11 cells to proliferate and release interleukins (IL-2 and IL-3). These responses were blocked by mAbs specific for either MHC class II or for the mycobacterial antigen. The endogenous antigen was also recognised by MHC class I-dependent cytotoxic T cells; cytotoxicity was inhibited by mAbs against either MHC class I molecules or ML65hsp. Thus, production of ML65hsp within the host cytoplasm resulted in association of the antigen with both MHC class I and MHC class II antigen-presenting structures and evoked both lymphocyte proliferation and cytotoxicity towards the antigen-presenting cell. These findings may be relevant to the development of recombinant subunit vaccines against intracellular pathogens.

3T3 Cells↗

MHC class II interaction with CD4 mediated by a region analogous to the MHC class I binding site for CD8.

Interactions between major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules and the CD4 or CD8 coreceptors have a major role in intrathymic T-cell selection. On mature T cells, each of these two glycoproteins is associated with a class-specific bias in MHC molecule recognition by the T-cell receptor. CD4+ T cells respond to antigen in association with MHC class II molecules and CD8+ T cells respond to antigen in association with MHC class I molecules. Physical interaction between the CD4/MHC class II molecules and CD8/MHC class I molecules has been demonstrated by cell adhesion assay, and a binding site for CD8 on class I has been identified. Here we demonstrate that a region of the MHC class II beta-chain beta 2 domain, structurally analogous to the CD8-binding loop in the MHC class I alpha 3 domain, is critical for function with both mouse and human CD4.

Animals↗

MHC class Ia-restricted memory T cells inhibit expansion of a nonprotective MHC class Ib (H2-M3)-restricted memory response.

Listeria monocytogenes infection generates major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class Ia-restricted and MHC class Ib-(H2-M3)-restricted effector and memory CD8+ T cells. However, only MHC class Ia-restricted memory cells expand after rechallenge, and it is unknown if MHC class Ib-restricted memory CD8+ T cells generated by vaccination are protective. We show here that H2-M3-restricted memory CD8+ T cells were capable of secondary expansion but, in contrast to primary H2-M3-restricted effector cells, failed to provide protective immunity. In lm-immune mice, MHC class Ia-restricted memory CD8+ T cells prevented the expansion of H2-M3-restricted memory T cell populations by limiting dendritic cell antigen presentation. Thus, protective immunity by H2-M3-restricted T cells is limited to primary infection, indicating that memory MHC class Ia-restricted T cells prevent nonessential immune responses during secondary infection.

Animals↗

The E5 protein of BPV-4 interacts with the heavy chain of MHC class I and irreversibly retains the MHC complex in the Golgi apparatus.

BPV-4 E5 inhibits transcription of the bovine MHC class I heavy chain (HC) gene, increases degradation of HC and downregulates surface expression of MHC class I by retaining the complex in the Golgi apparatus (GA). Here we report that transcription inhibition can be alleviated by interferon treatment and the degradation of HC can be reversed by treatment with inhibitors of proteasomes and lysosomes. However, the inhibition of transport of MHC class I to the cell surface is irreversible. We show that E5 is capable of physically interacting with HC. Together with the inhibition of the vacuolar ATPase (due to the interaction between E5 and 16k subunit c), the interaction between E5 and HC is likely to be responsible for retention of MHC class I in the GA. C-terminus deletion mutants of E5 are incapable of either downregulating surface MHC class I or interacting with HC, establishing that the C-terminus domain of E5 is important in the inhibition of MHC class I.

Animals↗

The MHC class II ligand lymphocyte activation gene-3 is co-distributed with CD8 and CD3-TCR molecules after their engagement by mAb or peptide-MHC class I complexes.

Previous studies indicated that signaling through lymphocyte activation gene-3 (LAG-3), a MHC class II ligand, induced by multivalent anti-receptor antibodies led to unresponsiveness to TCR stimulation. Here, lateral distribution of the LAG-3 molecules and its topological relationship (mutual proximity) to the TCR, CD8, CD4, and MHC class I and II molecules were studied in the plasma membrane of activated human T cells in co-capping experiments and conventional fluorescence microscopy. Following TCR engagement by either TCR-specific mAb or MHC-peptide complex recognition in T-B cell conjugates, LAG-3 was found to be specifically associated with the CD3-TCR complex. Similarly, following CD8 engagement LAG-3 and CD8 were co-distributed on the cell surface while only a low percentage of CD4-capped cells displayed LAG-3 co-caps. In addition, LAG-3 was found to be associated with MHC class II (i.e. DR, DP and DQ) and partially with MHC class I molecules. The supramolecular assemblies described here between LAG-3, CD3, CD8 and MHC class II molecules may result from an organization in raft microdomains, a phenomenon known to regulate early events of T cell activation.

Animals↗

Efficacy of Marek's disease vaccines in Mhc heterozygous chickens: Mhc congenic x inbred line F1 matings.

The goal of this study is to demonstrate that Mhc (B) heterozygous chickens differ in efficacy of response to several Marek's disease (MD) vaccines. Four types of B2 heterozygotes, in addition to B2B2 homozygotes, were developed by crossing 15.B congenic males to inbred line 7(1) (B2B2) hens. The five types of F1 chicks were intermingled in isolators and vaccinated with one of four types of MD vaccine before inoculation with the very virulent Md5 strain of MD herpesvirus. The F1 chickens differ in development of protective immunity following MD vaccination from two perspectives. First, chickens of a particular Mhc genotype were protected better by some vaccines than others. Second, individual vaccine preparations protected some Mhc genotypes more effectively. We conclude that some MD vaccines are more appropriate than others for certain B-haplotypes when chickens are heterozygous for the Mhc. The value of using Mhc-congenic x inbred line F1 animals for studies concerning the influence of the Mhc on vaccinal immunity is discussed.

Animals↗