Introduction: Peptides obtained by processing intracellular and extracellular antigens are presented to T cells to stimulate the immune response. This presentation is made by peptide receptors called major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules. The regulation mechanisms of MHC molecules, which have similar roles in the immune response, especially at the gene level, have significant differences according to their class. Objective: Class I and class II MHC molecules encoded by MHC genes on the short arm of the sixth chromosome are peptide receptors that stimulate T cell response. These peptides, which will enable the recognition of the antigen from which they originate, are loaded into MHC molecules and presented to T cells. Although the principles of loading and delivering peptides are similar for both molecules, the peptide sources and peptide loading mechanisms are different. In addition, class I molecules are expressed in all nucleated cells while class II molecules are expressed only in Antigen Presentation Cells (APC). These differences; It shows that MHC class I is not expressed by exactly the same transcriptional mechanisms as MHC class II. In our article, we aimed to compare the gene expressions of both classes and reveal their similarities and differences. Discussion and Conclusion: A better understanding of the transcriptional mechanisms of MHC molecules will reveal the role of these molecules in diseases more clearly. In our review, we discussed MHC gene regulation mechanisms with presence of existing informations, which is specific to the MHC class, for contribute to future research. Keywords: MHC class I, MHC class II, MHC gene regulation, promoter, SXY module, transcription
MHC class I and class II presentation of tumor antigen in retrovirally and adenovirally transduced dendritic cells