title: Patients with multiple sclerosis carry DQB1 genes which encode shared polymorphic amino acid sequences.
abstract: Of 61 Norwegian multiple sclerosis patients tested, 59, i.e., 97%, were positive for at least one of the HLA specificities DR2, DR4, or DRw6. Typing with sequence-specific oligonucleotide probes revealed that the same 59 patients carried DR2-, DR4-, or DRw6-associated HLA-DQB1 genes which encode shared polymorphic amino acid sequences in the membrane-distal part of their HLA-DQ beta chains. This shared DQ beta polymorphism may explain previously reported DR associations and could thus be the primary HLA association in MS.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Transplantation Immunology, National Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Vartdal
authors.forename: L M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Sollid
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Vandvik
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Markussen
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Thorsby
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D015343:DNA Probes, HLA; D005787:Gene Frequency; D005805:Genes, MHC Class I; D005819:Genetic Markers; D006683:HLA-DQ Antigens / Q000235:genetics*; D006684:HLA-DR Antigens / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics*; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic
chemical_list: D015343:DNA Probes, HLA; D005819:Genetic Markers; D006683:HLA-DQ Antigens; D006684:HLA-DR Antigens