HLA class I alleles in Australian aborigines and their peptide binding profiles

Abstract

This chapter provides an overview of the human major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules and their importance in clinical transplantation. MHC genes evolve through duplication, followed by diversification, co-evolution, and sequence exchange. The focus, for HLA in transplantation, has been the classical class I and class II human leukocyte antigen (HLA) molecules and alleles. Importantly, anti-HLA antibodies developed after organ transplants play a role in acute and chronic allograft rejection, highlighting the need to detect these antibodies in a clinically relevant manner. Although the immune response to HLA antigens plays a central role in allograft rejection, evidence shows that non-HLA antigens also contribute to the pathogenesis of acute and chronic rejection, which limit long-term graft survival of solid organ transplants. Alloantibodies against MICA have been reported to be associated with acute and chronic vascular rejection of renal and heart transplants.