title: Comparative genomics of the human, macaque and mouse major histocompatibility complex.
abstract: The MHC is a highly polymorphic genomic region that encodes the transplantation and immune regulatory molecules. It receives special attention for genetic investigation because of its important role in the regulation of innate and adaptive immune responses and its strong association with numerous infectious and/or autoimmune diseases. The MHC locus was first discovered in the mouse and for the past 50 years it has been studied most intensively in both mice and humans. However, in recent years the macaque species have emerged as some of the more important and advanced experimental animal models for biomedical research into MHC with important human immunodeficiency virus/simian immunodeficiency virus and transplantation studies undertaken in association with precise MHC genotyping and haplotyping methods using Sanger sequencing and next-generation sequencing. Here, in this special issue on 'Macaque Immunology' we provide a short review of the genomic similarities and differences among the human, macaque and mouse MHC class I and class II regions, with an emphasis on the association of the macaque class I region with MHC polymorphism, haplotype structure and function.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Life Science, Division of Basic Medical Science and Molecular Medicine, Tokai University School of Medicine, Isehara, Kanagawa, Japan.
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shiina
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire d'Immunogénétique moléculaire (LIMT, EA 3034), Laboratoire d'immunologie, Faculté de Médecine Purpan, Université Toulouse 3, CHU de Toulouse, Toulouse, France.
authors.forename: Antoine
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Blancher
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Life Science, Division of Basic Medical Science and Molecular Medicine, Tokai University School of Medicine, Isehara, Kanagawa, Japan.
authors.forename: Hidetoshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Inoko
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Life Science, Division of Basic Medical Science and Molecular Medicine, Tokai University School of Medicine, Isehara, Kanagawa, Japan.|School of Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia.
authors.forename: Jerzy K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Kulski
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000235:genetics*; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D023281:Genomics; D005838:Genotype; D006648:Histocompatibility / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D007109:Immunity / Q000235:genetics; D007239:Infections / Q000235:genetics*; D008251:Macaca; D008285:Major Histocompatibility Complex / Q000235:genetics*; D051379:Mice; D010828:Physiology, Comparative; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic
keywords: haplotype; macaque; major histocompatibility complex; polymorphism