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Identification of a mouse male-specific transplantation antigen, H-Y

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Abstract

THE male-specific transplantation antigen, H-Y, causes rejection of male tissue grafts by genotv pically identical female mice1 and contributes to the rejection of human leukocyte antigen-matched male organ grafts by human females2. Although first recognized 40 years ago1, the identity of H-Y has remained elusive. T cells detect several distinct H-Y epitopes3–5, and these are probably peptides, derived from intracellular proteins, that are presented at the cell surface with major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules6. In the mouse, the gene(s) controlling H-Y expression (Hya) are located on the short arm of the Y chromosome7,8 between the zinc-finger genes Zfy-1 and Zfy-2 (ref. 9). We have recently identified Smcy a ubiquitously expressed gene, in this region10 and its X-chromosome homologue, Smcx11. Here we report that Smcy encodes an H-YKk epitope that is defined by the octamer peptide TENSGKDI: no similar peptide is found in Smcx. These findings provide a genetic basis for the antigenic difference between males and females that contributes towards a tissue transplant rejection response.

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Author notes

  1. A. I. Agulnik

    Present address: Promega Corporation, 2800 Woods Hollow Road, Madison, Wisconsin, 53711, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. MRC Clinical Sciences Centre, Royal Postgraduate Medical School, Hammersmith Hospital, Du Cane Road, London, W12 ONN, UK

    D. M. Scott, I. E. Ehrmann, P. S. Ellis & E. Simpson

  2. INSERM Unité 406, 27 Boulevard Jean Moulin, Marseille, 13005, France

    C. E. Bishop & M. J. Mitchell

  3. Baylor College of Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, and Department of Human and Molecular Genetics, 6550 Fannin Street, Houston, Texas, 77030, USA

    C. E. Bishop

  4. University of Tennessee, Memphis, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 711 Jefferson Avenue, Memphis, Tennessee, 38105, USA

    A. I. Agulnik

Authors
  1. D. M. Scott
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  2. I. E. Ehrmann
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  3. P. S. Ellis
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  4. C. E. Bishop
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  5. A. I. Agulnik
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  6. E. Simpson
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  7. M. J. Mitchell
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Scott, D., Ehrmann, I., Ellis, P. et al. Identification of a mouse male-specific transplantation antigen, H-Y. Nature 376, 695–698 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1038/376695a0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/376695a0

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