Remarkable polymorphism of HLA-B27: an ongoing saga.
Histocompatibility antigen HLA-B27 is a normal gene that is distributed worldwide with variable prevalence and shows a remarkable association with ankylosing spondylitis and related spondyloarthropathies. The precise biological explanation for this remarkable association remains elusive. HLA-B27 represents a family of closely related proteins encoded by an ever-increasing number of alleles; there are 75 alleles of HLA-B27 known thus far, based on nucleotide sequence differences, but at the translated protein level, there are 62 known subtypes of HLA-B27. Not all subtypes are disease associated. Moreover, existence of a possible hierarchical ranking among some of the subtypes for their disease association has been observed.
Khan
Muhammad Asim
MA
Division of Rheumatology, MetroHealth Medical Center, 2500 MetroHealth Drive, Cleveland, OH 44109, USA. mkhan@metrohealth.org
D017668:Age of Onset; D000483:Alleles; D000818:Animals; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D015796:HLA-B27 Antigen / Q000235:genetics* / Q000266:history; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D015995:Prevalence; D025242:Spondylarthropathies / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000235:genetics*; D013167:Spondylitis, Ankylosing / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000235:genetics*
D015796:HLA-B27 Antigen