Comparative genomics of the MHC: glimpses into the evolution of the adaptive immune system.
MHC gene organization (size, complexity, gene order) differs markedly among different species, and yet all nonmammalian vertebrates examined to date have a true "class I region" with tight linkage of genes encoding the class I presenting and processing molecules. Three paralogous regions of the human genome contain sets of linked genes homologous to various loci in the MHC class I, class II, and/or class III regions, providing insight into the organization of the "proto MHC" before the emergence of the adaptive immune system in the jawed vertebrates.
Flajnik
M F
MF
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Maryland at Baltimore, Room 13-009, 655 West Baltimore Street, Baltimore, MD 21021, USA. mflajnik@som.umaryland.edu
Kasahara
M
M
D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D005805:Genes, MHC Class I; D005802:Genes, MHC Class II; D015894:Genome, Human; D023281:Genomics; D006801:Humans; D007107:Immune System / Q000502:physiology*; D008285:Major Histocompatibility Complex