Use of class II tetramers for identification of CD4+ T cells

Multivalent MHC class II molecules containing peptide antigens are useful tools for the detection of antigen specific human CD4+ T cells. Tetramers produced by exogenous peptide loading onto empty class II molecules are comparable to tetramers with peptide tethered to the class II chain covalently, but have many practical advantages. Conditions for optimal peptide loading to generate tetramers are discussed and optimal conditions of using tetramers for staining T cells are examined. As the frequency of antigen specific CD4+ T cells in peripheral blood is low, we demonstrate that an in vitro expansion step is effective in detecting low frequency T cells. Two new applications with tetramers, their uses for mapping T cell epitopes and for the detection of low affinity T cells are described. In a clinical setting, potential applications include using these reagents for monitoring disease progression during clinical intervention.     

Twelve novel HLA-B*15 alleles carrying previously observed sequence motifs are placed into B*15 subgroups

Twelve new B*15 alleles are described. All of the known B*15 alleles are divided into subgroups based on serologic assignments and/or nucleotide sequence polymorphisms. These groups might be used as a reference for DNA-based testing at an intermediate (i.e. "serologic") level of resolution.     

Novel HLA-A*11 allele, A*1120, identified by sequence-based typing

In this report, we describe the identification of a human leucocyte antigen-A*11 (HLA-A*11) nucleotide sequence variant, a new HLA-A*1120 by using sequence-based typing (SBT). The new allele was detected during routine HLA typing by high-resolution SBT. Allele A*1120 showed one nucleotide difference with A*110101 at codon 152 (GCG-->GAG) resulting in an amino acid change from alanine to glutamate. Residue 152 is located on alpha(2)-helix of HLA class I molecule and involved in peptide binding by constructing E pocket of peptide-binding groove, implying that the change of the residue 152 would affect the binding affinity of peptides to A*1120 allele.     

Analysis of children with type 1 diabetes in Korea: high prevalence of specific anti-islet autoantibodies, immunogenetic similarities to Western populations with "unique" haplotypes, and lack of discrimination by aspartic acid at position 57 of DQB

This study analyzed the expression of anti-islet autoantibodies and HLA-DR and -DQ genotypes in Korean children with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). The positivity of the anti-ICA512, anti-GAD65, and anti-insulin autoantibodies in the newly onset T1DM patients (n = 15) was 66.7%, 86.7%, and 46.7%, respectively, and all of them had one or more of the autoantibodies. HLA analysis showed higher frequencies of HLA-DRB1*0301, *0405, *09012 and -DQB1*0201, *0401, *03032 alleles in T1DM patients compared to controls (P(c) < 0.05). Because HLA-DQB1*0401, *03032 alleles carry aspartic acid at position 57 of DQB, susceptibility to T1DM in Korean children was not related to the presence of aspartic acid at position 57 of DQB1 locus. We suggest this unique HLA-DR, -DQ allele distribution might be an important factor for the low incidence of T1DM in Korea, and the combined anti-islet autoantibody assays could be valuable screening markers for the early detection of T1DM in Korea.     

Are HLA-DR or TAP Genes Genetic Markers of Severity in Ulcerative Colitis?

The pathogeny of ulcerative colitis (UC) is not yet elucidated, but some arguments suggest the implication of genetic factors. Among the candidate genes, those encoding for HLA class II genotypes have been extensively studied in UC; however, discordant data may be imputable to heterogeneity, characterized by immunological markers such as atypical ANCA (p-ANCA), or to inclusion of more or less intractable UC. The aim of our study is to evaluate the interest of HLA class II and TAP genetic markers to identify different clinical forms of UC, according to p-ANCA status. Unrelated patients with a history of UC (n=91) and healthy control subjects with no personal or family history of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) (n=200) were included. HLA-DRB103 was less frequent in UC patients than in healthy controls (8% vs 28%,PC<0.03). No association was found with any TAP genotypes. Moreover, there was no association with the HLA-DR2 specificity, either in the entire group of UC patients (38% vs 28%) or in the p-ANCA-positive subgroup of patients (30%). The most consistent finding in the present study is that some genetic markers may characterize intractability in UC patients. HLA-DR2 was associated with poor prognosis, regardless of p-ANCA status. In HLA-DR2 and non-HLA-DR2 groups, colectomy was done in 55% and 27% of patients, respectively (PC<0.05). Furthermore, in non-HLA-DR2 patients, p-ANCA could be of interest to characterize those with more severe prognosis. Our results confirm the interest of genetic studies to define UC genetic susceptibility, taking into account intractability of the disease. They do not support the hypothesis that p-ANCA is a subclinical marker of genetic susceptibility to UC.     

Differences between T-cell reactivities to major myelin protein-derived peptides in opticospinal and conventional forms of multiple sclerosis and healthy controls

In Japanese, susceptibility to the conventional form of multiple sclerosis (C-MS) is associated with the HLA-DRB1*1501-DRB5*0101 haplotype while susceptibility to the opticospinal form of MS (OS-MS) is associated with HLA-DPA1*0202-DPB1*0501. To clarify the characteristics of T cells autoreactive to myelin proteins in each MS subtype, we established T-cell lines reactive to such myelin antigens as myelin basic protein (MBP), proteolipid protein (PLP) and myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) from 5 of 10 OS-MS patients, 6 of 11 C-MS patients and 7 of 13 healthy controls (HCs), and T-cell epitopes and their restriction molecules were determined. We found that (a) intermolecular epitope spreading was found to be significantly more frequent in MS patients than in HCs (P=0.0128), (b) intramolecular epitope spreading also tended to occur more frequently in MS patients than in HCs (P=0.0584), (c) in OS-MS, HLA-DR-restricted and MOG-autoreactive T cells were more frequently established as compared with those reactive to MBP or PLP epitopes and (d) in C-MS, HLA-DQ-restricted and PLP-autoreactive T cells dominated those autoreactive to MBP or MOG epitopes. A DPB1*0501-restricted MBP-reactive T-cell clone from a patient with OS-MS provided evidence that the first HLA class II anchor amino acid of peptide bound to disease-susceptible DP5 molecule was distinct from that for the DR2 molecule. Taken together, these differences in specificities of myelin-autoreactive T cells between C-MS and OS-MS as well as the difference in the anchor motif of the binding peptides between each MS subtype-susceptible HLA class II molecule may contribute to the development of distinct clinical phenotypes.     

Use of HLA marker associations and HLA haplotype linkage to estimate disease risks in families with gluten-sensitive enteropathy

Based on a two-locus, double recessive model, we derive formulas for the risks that relatives of individuals with gluten-sensitive enteropathy (GSE) will also develop the disease. The calculations take advantage of: the linkage between the HLA locus and one of the two proposed GSE loci, and the preferential association of the HLA-DR3 and DR7 alleles with the GSE disease allele that occupies the HLA-linked locus. We use Bayes' rule to quantitate the strength of the association between the GSE disease allele and the HLA marker allele. This method predicts that siblings of the proband have an overall 10% risk for GSE, which is consistent with observed family data. This predicted risk rises to 30% when siblings are HLA-identical to the proband (also consistent with observed data) or when the sibling has the DR3 allele in the HLA haplotypes not shared with the proband. In those populations where DR7 also is associated with GSE, siblings of probands have a 10% predicted risk for GSE when only one HLA haplotype is shared with the proband and DR7 is included in the unshared haplotype. Other DR alleles are associated with much lower disease risks. By separating individuals into high and low risk groups, HLA typing identifies those individuals who would benefit from further diagnostic procedures. This general strategy should be applicable to other multilocus, marker-associated diseases.     

高PRA介导肾移植后延迟性超急排斥反应

目的：了解HLA-A、B、DR、DQ表现型为纯合子的终末期肾脏疾病患者的PRA水平,并研究其与肾移植预后的关系。方法：对2006年8月至2007年8月间在我院登记等待首次肾移植的438例终末期肾脏疾病患者HLA、PRA情况以及其中1例PRA65的HLA纯合子患者肾移植效果进行分析。HLA基因分型采用PCR-SSP技术,PRA、抗体强度及抗体特异性分析采用ELISA技术,数据统计采用SPSS11.5统计软件。结果：438例患者中有HLA纯合子12例,杂合子426例;12例纯合子中PRA阳性者6例,阳性率50,平均HLA抗体强度为55,广泛致敏率达100;426例杂合子中PRA阳性者65例,阳性率15.26,平均HLA抗体强度为28,广泛致敏率为40;纯合子与杂合子之间的PRA阳性率、平均HLA抗体强度和广泛致敏率相比差异均有统计学意义（P〈0.05）,纯合子高PRA的风险大（OR=5.29,95CI：1.67～16.70）;1例PRA65的纯合子患者术前经血浆置换、蛋白免疫吸附、静滴丙种球蛋白治疗使PRA降低至阴性,在舒莱免疫诱导下行尸体肾移植术,供受者HLA抗原2个错配,术后移植肾功能逐渐恢复,第3天开始PRA呈阳性并逐渐升高,伴随临床逐渐出现尿少、血压升高、移植肾区疼痛等排斥反应征象,血清肌酐逐渐升高,移植肾B超见动脉阻力指数逐渐升高,提示急性排斥反应,采用术前有效清除HLA抗体的所有方法再次治疗无效,于术后第36天因移植物失功行移植肾切除。结论：HLA纯合子产生高PRA的风险大;文中1例PRA阳性的HLA纯合子早期移植肾功能恢复随后出现不可逆排斥反应致移植肾失功的情况,提示近年来随着各种有效清除HLA抗体的治疗方法不断用于临床导致了抗体介导的延迟性超急排斥反应（AMDR）的出现从而使移植肾失功;高PRA患者行肾移植术需高度慎重,应尽可能避开受者PRA峰值时的全部抗体谱来选择供体。     

Six new DPB1 alleles identified in a study of 1,302 unrelated bone marrow donor-recipient pairs

Six new DPB1 alleles were identified by PCR-SSOP methodologies in the course of a retrospective study of the role of HLA matching in the outcome of unrelated donor bone marrow transplantation. Sequencing confirmed that five of these alleles (DPB1*5901, *6801, *7101, *7201, and *7301) represent novel combinations of previously described sequence motifs in the variable regions of DPB1; the sixth (DPB1*7001) appears to result from a novel point mutation. These data support previous observations which suggest that multiple mechanisms, including segmental exchange and mutation, appear to be responsible for generating sequence diversity at the DPB1 locus. The extremely low discrepancy rate of 0.1% between the two laboratories which typed the samples, and the ability to predict the new sequences from probe hybridization patterns, indicate that SSOP is an accurate and efficient method for studying polymorphism at DPB1.     

Hydatidiform mole and HLA. Methods for HLA-A,B,C determination

The current Danish project on genetic markers and hydatidiform moles involves the examination of the histocompatibility between patient, spouse and molar tissue. For this purpose 2 techniques have been developed for HLA-A,B determination of molar tissue: (a) a cytotoxic microtechnique for the HLA typing of cultured molar cells, and (b) a microabsorption method using selected HLA antisera for the examination of frozen molar tissue. To date molar cell cultures or tissue have been examined in 22 of the cases. The results of HLA determination were compared with chromosomal markers to elucidate the origin of the haploid chromosome complements. In the cases examined a general agreement between the HLA-A,B type and the origin of the chromosomes was observed. The microabsorption method used seems to be less sensitive than the cytotoxic technique.