The major histocompatibility complex is directly involved in the immune response, and thus genes coding for its proteins are useful markers study of genetic diversity, susceptibility to disease (autoimmunity infections), transplant medicine, pharmacogenetics, among others. polymorphism system also allows researchers use it as a proxy population genetics analysis, such admixture structure. In or...

An analysis of more than 500 liver transplants has demonstrated that HLA compatibility is associated with diminished allograft survival. Liver transplants with zero mismatches for class I and/or class II HLA antigens have shown significantly lower actuarial survival rates than transplants with one or more mismatches for these loci. In a group of 119 failed liver allografts from patients undergo...

One of the prices we pay for our love of jewelry is allergic contact hypersensitivity to metal, an autoimmune condition that variably afflicts around 10% of all Caucasians (1). Contact hypersensitivity is a classic type IV DTH (delayed type hypersensitivity) response, involving primed T cells that are specific for metal modified antigens generated at a local site in the body (most commonly the ...

Despite much recent interest and effort, the role played by major histocompatibility complex products in the regulation of T-cell responses remains perplexing. In 1972 it was observed that mouse T and B cells would only cooperate in an antibody reponse if they shared certain regions of H-2 (1). Subsequently, H-2 gene products were also found to be involved in cytotoxic Tcell reactions, and it w...

A plaque technique which provides a sensitive and quantitative determination of allohemolysin (isohemolysin) production by lymphoid cells of mice and Syrian hamsters is described. Much ongoing attention has been given to minimizing sources of spurious plaques while improving the reproducibility of the technique. Primary intravenous immunization with allogeneic blood cells led to the early appea...

The total hemolytic complement (C) levels in inbred line 7 chicks and adults were lower than C levels in inbred lines 2 and 3 and in outbred chickens of the same age. In all birds, adult levels of C were obtained in 5- to 6-wk-old chickens. Analysis of F1 and F3 generations clearly showed that the C level in chickens was determined by a dominant gene(s) associated with the major histocompatibil...

Lymphocytes from a patient who had an unusually long survival after therapy for a human T cell leukemia/lymphoma virus (HTLV)-associated T cell lymphoma were stimulated in vitro with an autologous tumor cell line, and the generation of cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) was studied. CTL generated were directed against autologous (HTLV-associated tumor cells. These propagated CTL were OKT3+, OKT4-, a...