Abstract Genes of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) are crucial for adaptive immunity in jawed vertebrates, and theory predicts that there should be mate choice optimizing MHC constitution offspring. In a previous study, we demonstrated non-random female extra-pair males bluethroat ( Luscinia svecica ), yielding offspring was closer to an intermediate class II (MHCII) allele count than...

The major histocompatibility complex (MHC), which harbours the most polymorphic vertebrate genes, plays a critical role in the host-pathogen coevolutionary arms race. However, the extent to which MHC diversity determines disease susceptibility and long-term persistence of populations is currently under debate, as recent studies have demonstrated that low MHC variability does not necessarily ham...

The major histocompatibility complex (MHC) is an immunologically important cluster of highly variable genes that is known to affect fitness in domesticated mammals and birds. Spur length of male pheasants in southern Sweden correlates with male viability, female mate choice, and offspring survival rate. Here we show by genetic analyses that the MHC genotype is associated with variation in both ...

A genomic DNA library prepared from the kidney of the mole rat Spalax ehrenbergi was screened with mouse probes representing major histocompatibility complex genes that encode alpha and beta polypeptide chains of class II molecules (alpha and beta genes). Restriction maps were constructed for the cross-hybridizing clones, and the class II genes borne by these clones were identified. By this pro...

Epidemiological studies and mouse models suggest that maternal immune activation, induced clinically through prenatal exposure to one of several infectious diseases, is a risk factor in the development of schizophrenia. This is supported by the strong genetic association established by genome wide association studies (GWAS) between the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) locus and schizophrenia. HLA ...

T cell recognition of specific antigen is initiated by the interaction between TCR molecules and peptide–MHC complexes (pMHC) expressed on the surface of antigenpresenting cells. Soluble pMHC molecules can substitute as ligands in this interaction, binding specifically to T cells expressing the appropriate TCR. Because the monomeric interaction of TCR–pMHC is of low avidity [1–6], multimerizati...

Homologues of the human major histocompatibility complex (MHC) HLA-A, -B, -E, -F, and -G loci are present in all the Catarrhini (Old World primates, apes, and humans), and some of their allelic lineages have survived several speciation events. Analysis of 26 MHC class I cDNAs from seven different genera of New World primates revealed that the Callitrichinae (tamarins and marmosets) are an excep...

Human major histocompatibility complex (MHC) alleles can be used as markers for a wide variety of autoimmune and other disorders. The interpretation of and possible bases for these associations can be considered in relation to conserved extended MHC haplotypes (CEHs). The latter are fixed stretches of up to several million base pairs of genomic deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). CEHs constitute at le...