title: Conservation and diversification of MHC class I and its related molecules in vertebrates.
abstract: The elucidation of the complete peptide-binding domains of the highly polymorphic shark MHC class I genes offered us an opportunity to examine the characteristics of their predicted protein products in the light of the latest advance in the structural studies of the MHC class I molecules. The results suggest that the fundamental characteristics in the T-cell recognition of the MHC class I molecule/peptide complex are expected to have been established at the early stage of the vertebrate evolution. The elucidation of the typical classical class I molecules from fishes and also of some MHC class I-related molecules may help us-to explore the common denominator of the ancient class I molecules.
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D000818:Animals; D000941:Antigens / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D017124:Conserved Sequence / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D019281:Dimerization; D005805:Genes, MHC Class I / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D016415:Sequence Alignment