MHC and Non-MHC Genes in Tuberculosis and Leprosy

Author(s):  
Narinder Mehra ◽  
Gurvinder Kaur ◽  
Paras Singh ◽  
Prashant Sood
Keyword(s):  
2003 ◽  
Vol 77 (2) ◽  
pp. 99-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.M. Behnke ◽  
F. Iraqi ◽  
D. Menge ◽  
R.L. Baker ◽  
J. Gibson ◽  
...  

AbstractThe host-protective immune response to infection with gastrointestinal (GI) nematodes involves a range of interacting processes that begin with recognition of the parasite's antigens and culminate in an inflammatory reaction in the intestinal mucosa. Precisely which immune effectors are responsible for the loss of specific worms is still not known although many candidate effectors have been proposed. However, it is now clear that many different genes regulate the response and that differences between hosts (fast or strong versus slow or weak responses) can be explained by allelic variation in crucial genes associated with the gene cascade that accompanies the immune response and/or genes encoding constitutively expressed receptor/signalling molecules. Major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genes have been recognized for some time as decisive in controlling immunity, and evidence that non-MHC genes are equally, if not more important in this respect has also been available for two decades. Nevertheless, whilst the former have been mapped in mice, only two candidate loci have been proposed for non-MHC genes and relatively little is known about their roles. Now, with the availability of microsatellite markers, it is possible to exploit linkage mapping techniques to identify quantitative trait loci (QTL) responsible for resistance to GI nematodes. Four QTL for resistance to Heligmosomoides polygyrus, and additional QTL affecting faecal egg production by the worms and the accompanying immune responses, have been identified. Fine mapping and eventually the identification of the genes (and their alleles) underlying QTL for resistance/susceptibility will permit informed searches for homologues in domestic animals, and human beings, through comparative genomic maps. This information in turn will facilitate targeted breeding to improve resistance in domestic animals and, in human beings, focused application of treatment and control strategies for GI nematodes.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 5 (6) ◽  
pp. e10948 ◽  
Author(s):  
Blake Matthews ◽  
Luke J. Harmon ◽  
Leithen M'Gonigle ◽  
Kerry B. Marchinko ◽  
Helmut Schaschl

2016 ◽  
Vol 113 (21) ◽  
pp. E2983-E2992 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pierre Boudinot ◽  
Stanislas Mondot ◽  
Luc Jouneau ◽  
Luc Teyton ◽  
Marie-Paule Lefranc ◽  
...  

Whereas major histocompatibility class-1 (MH1) proteins present peptides to T cells displaying a large T-cell receptor (TR) repertoire, MH1Like proteins, such as CD1D and MR1, present glycolipids and microbial riboflavin precursor derivatives, respectively, to T cells expressing invariant TR-α (iTRA) chains. The groove of such MH1Like, as well as iTRA chains used by mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) and natural killer T (NKT) cells, respectively, may result from a coevolution under particular selection pressures. Herein, we investigated the evolutionary patterns of the iTRA of MAIT and NKT cells and restricting MH1Like proteins: MR1 appeared 170 Mya and is highly conserved across mammals, evolving more slowly than other MH1Like. It has been pseudogenized or independently lost three times in carnivores, the armadillo, and lagomorphs. The corresponding TRAV1 gene also evolved slowly and harbors highly conserved complementarity determining regions 1 and 2. TRAV1 is absent exclusively from species in which MR1 is lacking, suggesting that its loss released the purifying selection on MR1. In the rabbit, which has very few NKT and no MAIT cells, a previously unrecognized iTRA was identified by sequencing leukocyte RNA. This iTRA uses TRAV41, which is highly conserved across several groups of mammals. A rabbit MH1Like gene was found that appeared with mammals and is highly conserved. It was independently lost in a few groups in which MR1 is present, like primates and Muridae, illustrating compensatory emergences of new MH1Like/Invariant T-cell combinations during evolution. Deciphering their role is warranted to search similar effector functions in humans.


2006 ◽  
Vol 273 (1592) ◽  
pp. 1407-1414 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joachim Kurtz ◽  
K. Mathias Wegner ◽  
Martin Kalbe ◽  
Thorsten B.H Reusch ◽  
Helmut Schaschl ◽  
...  

Individual variation in the susceptibility to infection may result from the varying ability of hosts to specifically recognize different parasite strains. Alternatively, there could be individual host differences in fitness costs of immune defence. Although, these two explanations are not mutually exclusive, they have so far been treated in separate experimental approaches. To analyse potential relationships, we studied body condition and oxidative stress, which may reflect costs of immunity, in three-spined sticklebacks that had been experimentally exposed to three species of naturally occurring parasite. These sticklebacks differed in a trait, which is crucial to specific parasite defence, i.e. individual genetic diversity at major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class IIB loci. Oxidative stress was quantified as tissue acrolein, a technique that has been applied to questions of immuno-ecology for the first time. We measured gene expression at the MHC and other estimates of immune activation. We found that fish with high levels of MHC expression had poor condition and elevated oxidative stress. These results indicate that MHC-based specific immunity is connected with oxidative stress. They could, thus, also be relevant in the broader context of the evolution of sexually selected signals that are based on carotenoids and are, thus supposed to reflect oxidative stress resistance.


2003 ◽  
pp. 69-79
Author(s):  
Ronald Rooke ◽  
Christophe Benoist ◽  
Diane Mathis
Keyword(s):  

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Ballouz ◽  
Alexander Dobin ◽  
Thomas Gingeras ◽  
Jesse Gillis

ABSTRACTMany tools are available for RNA-seq alignment and expression quantification, with comparative value being hard to establish. Benchmarking assessments often highlight methods’ good performance, but are focused on either model data or fail to explain variation in performance. This leaves us to ask, what is the most meaningful way to assess different alignment choices? And importantly, where is there room for progress? In this work, we explore the answers to these two questions by performing an exhaustive assessment of the STAR aligner. We assess STAR’s performance across a range of alignment parameters using common metrics, and then on biologically focused tasks. We find technical metrics such as fraction mapping or expression profile correlation to be uninformative, capturing properties unlikely to have any role in biological discovery. Surprisingly, we find that changes in alignment parameters within a wide range have little impact on both technical and biological performance. Yet, when performance finally does break, it happens in difficult regions, such as X-Y paralogs and MHC genes. We believe improved reporting by developers will help establish where results are likely to be robust or fragile, providing a better baseline to establish where methodological progress can still occur.


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