Bone marrow-derived mast cells as well as dendritic cells, macrophages and B lymphocytes express major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II molecules. In mast cells, the majority of MHC class II molecules reside in intracellular cell type-specific compartments, secretory granules. To understand the molecular basis for the localisation of MHC class II molecules in secretory granules, MHC cl...

What do they do? NK cells are equipped with cytotoxic granules that contain the arsenal of cytotoxic molecules used in killing virally infected and cancerous cells. They recognize their targets, in part, by means of activating signals that are only just beginning to be identified, but also by detecting cells that are deficient in cell-surface class I molecules of the major histocompatibility co...

We report here that human T lymphocytes have the capacity of acquiring large amounts of MHC class II molecules from various types of antigen-presenting cells (APC) in an antigen-independent manner. The transfer of MHC class II molecules from APC to T cell required direct cell-to-cell contact and appeared to involve the interaction of numerous adhesion molecules between these cells. Depletion of...

Macroautophagy delivers cytoplasmic constituents for lysosomal degradation. Because MHC class II molecules are loaded with lysosomal products for CD4(+) T-cell stimulation, macroautophagy supports intracellular antigen processing onto MHC class II molecules. The molecular machinery of macroautophagy, however, does not only support this autophagic antigen processing, but seems to also modify ext...

Antigenic peptides presented by major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II molecules are generally derived from exogenous proteins acquired by antigen presenting cells. However, in some circumstances, MHC class II molecules can present intracellular proteins expressed within the antigen-presenting cells. There are several described pathways by which endogenous antigens are degraded and gai...

Class I major histocompatibility complex (MHC) cDNA clones have been isolated from an expression library derived from mRNA of an MHC homozygous Xenopus laevis. The nucleotide and predicted amino acid sequences show definite similarity to MHC class I molecules of higher vertebrates. The immunoglobulin-like alpha-3 domain is more similar to the immunoglobulin-like domains of mammalian class II be...

The rate of constitutive myosin synthesis was measured in cultures of replicating embryonic chicken skin fibroblasts by pulse labeling with [3H]leucine. These cells synthesized the 200,000-dalton heavy chain of myosin (MHC) at a rate of 3.2 x 10(3) molecules/cell/min. Additionally, an independent estimate of the MHC synthesis rate needed to maintain a constant level of constitutive MHC/cell was...

Natural killer (NK) cells play a vital role in the detection and elimination of virally infected and tumor cells. The Ly49 family of NK receptors regulates NK cell function by sensing major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I molecules on target cells. Previous crystal studies revealed that the Ly49A homodimer binds one MHC molecule in an asymmetric interaction, whereas the Ly49C homodimer...

Ewing's sarcoma (EWS) is a pediatric cancer that is conventionally treated by surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy. Innovative immunotherapies to treat EWS are currently under development. Unfortunately for EWS patients, when the disease is found to be resistant to current therapeutic approaches, the prognosis is predictably grim. Radiation therapy and immunotherapy could potentially sy...

MHC class II molecules (MHC-II) associate with detergent-resistant membrane microdomains, termed lipid rafts, which affects the function of these molecules during Ag presentation to CD4+ T cells. Recently, it has been proposed that MHC-II also associates with another type of membrane microdomain, termed tetraspan microdomains. These microdomains are defined by association of molecules to a fami...