Abstract
In this review the biological significance of the MHC is discussed. The author confines himself to class I and II genes and their products. Class I and II molecules present processed antigens to T cells. This function is operative during the development of a self-tolerant T cell repertoire and during an ongoing immune response. Both MHC class I and II genes are extremely polymorphic. This polymorphism results in inter-individual differences in immune reactivity. Therefore these genes are so-called Immune response (Ir-) genes. The resulting differences in immune reactivity are due to differential binding of processed antigen to the products of these Ir-genes. The MHC polymorphism has been conserved in evolution and there is evidence that selection by infectious disease has been involved in this process. An explanation for this is presented, which amounts to the idea that MHC polymorphism is a very pragmatic answer to the unpredictable challenges of infectious diseases. One of the consequences of this type of life-insurance is that individuals with certain MHC alleles have an increased susceptibility to certain immuno-pathological diseases. These recent developments in immunogenetics may be applied to the development of sub-unit vaccines, have implications for the prevention of T cell mediated immunopathological diseases and may result in genetic manipulation aimed at introducing resistance genes in susceptible animals.
Keywords
- Major Histocompatibility Complex
- Major Histocompatibility Complex Class
- Typhoid Fever
- Major Histocompatibility Complex Molecule
- Cell Repertoire
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
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© 1989 ECSC,EAEC,Brussels and Luxembourg
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de Vries, R.R.P. (1989). Biological Significance of the MHC. In: Improving Genetic Disease Resistance in Farm Animals. Current Topics in Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, vol 52. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-1057-7_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-1057-7_2
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