title: Differential expression and interferon response of HLA class I genes in thymocyte lines and response variants.
abstract: cDNA clones which seem to represent the alleles of HLA-A and -B expressed by the thymoma MOLT-4 have been isolated and used as locus-specific probes to measure the corresponding mRNA levels in MOLT-4 and other human thymocyte lines, and the effect of interferon (IFN)-alpha and -gamma on these levels. It is shown in MOLT-4, and in its derived line YHHH, that HLA-B mRNA levels are undetectable before treatment but respond to IFN-alpha and -gamma more markedly than those of HLA-A. This differential induction is best shown with YHHH, which is hypersensitive to IFN-alpha, where the HLA-B mRNA levels increase to a level threefold those of HLA-A. Other thymocyte lines tested also showed preferential induction by IFN-alpha of HLA-B, although the basal levels of HLA-A and -B tended to be similar. The effect of the altered ratio of HLA-A to -B mRNA on surface expression of the antigens and the correlation between basal level expression and inducibility are discussed.
mesh_terms: D000940:Antigenic Variation; D001483:Base Sequence; D002460:Cell Line; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000187:drug effects; D005805:Genes, MHC Class I / Q000187:drug effects; D006680:HLA Antigens / Q000235:genetics; D015234:HLA-A Antigens; D015235:HLA-B Antigens; D006801:Humans; D007372:Interferons / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D006680:HLA Antigens; D015234:HLA-A Antigens; D015235:HLA-B Antigens; D007372:Interferons