background: leishmaniasis is a worldwide disease prevalent in tropical and sub- tropical countries. in the present study the immunogenicity of three human hla-dr1 restricted peptides derived from l. major gp63 protein was evaluated using fvb/n-dr1 transgenic mouse model. methods: the immunity generated by three mhc class ii – restricted peptides with the sequence of aarlvrlaaagaavt (aar), aaplv...

Transgenic mice expressing human HLA class II molecules provide a useful model for identifying HLA-restricted CD4+ epitopes. However, the influence of endogenous murine H-2-restricted T cell responses on HLA-restricted responses is not known. In the present study, we show that HLA-DR1 transgenic mice deficient for H-2 class II expression (HLA-DR1+/+/IAbeta0/0) exhibit an equivalent expression l...

BACKGROUND Leishmaniasis is a worldwide disease prevalent in tropical and sub-tropical countries. In the present study the immunogenicity of three human HLA-DR1 restricted peptides derived from L. major gp63 protein was evaluated using FVB/N-DR1 transgenic mouse model. METHODS The immunity generated by three MHC class II - restricted peptides with the sequence of AARLVRLAAAGAAVT (AAR), AAPLVR...

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease that is strongly associated with the expression of several HLA-DR haplotypes, including DR1 (DRB1*0101). Although the antigen that initiates RA remains elusive, it has been shown that many patients have autoimmunity directed to type II collagen (CII). To test the hypothesis that HLA-DR1 is capable of mediating an immune response to CII, we have...

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease associated with the recognition of self proteins secluded in diarthrodial joints. We have previously established that mice transgenic for the human DR genes associated with RA are susceptible to collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) and we have identified a determinant of type II collagen (CII(263-270)) that triggers T-cell immune responses in these...

BACKGROUND T-cell targeted peptide epitope tolerogens from grass pollen allergens may be useful in treating seasonal allergic rhinitis, but there is urgent need for optimisation of approaches from improved understanding of mechanism. OBJECTIVE We sought to identify human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-DR1-restricted epitopes from the Timothy grass pollen allergen, Phleum pratense, and characterise T...

BALB/c mice transgenic (Tg) for the transforming rat neu oncogene (BALB-neuT) are genetically predestined to develop mammary carcinogenesis in a process similar to that in humans. We crossed HLA-A2.1/HLA-DR1 (A2.1/DR1) Tg mice with BALB-neuT mice to generate A2.1/DR1 x BALB-neuT triple Tg (A2.1/DR1 x neuT(+)) mice, which represent an improvement over BALB-neuT mice for evaluating vaccination re...

The antibody response to influenza infection is largely dependent on CD4 T cell help for B cells. Cognate signals and secreted factors provided by CD4 T cells drive B cell activation and regulate antibody isotype switching for optimal antiviral activity. Recently, we analyzed HLA-DR1 transgenic (DR1) mice and C57BL/10 (B10) mice after infection with influenza virus A/New Caledonia/20/99 (NC) an...

Inherited susceptibility to rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is associated with the DRB1 genes encoding the human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-DR4 and HLA-DR1 molecules. Transgenic mice expressing these major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II molecules have been developed to generate humanized models for RA. The relevance of these models for understanding RA will be discussed.