Histocompatibility in Biological News

Opposites attract -- how genetics influences humans to choose their mates

... May 25). Professor Maria da Graa Bicalho, head of the Immunogenetics and histocompatibility Laboratory at the University of Parana, Brazil, says that her research had shown that people with diverse major histocompatibility complexes (MHCs) were more likely to choose each other as mates than those ...

Disease threat may change how frogs mate

... more often with other healthy frogs, leaving diseased frogs to mate with each other. These frogs could also be selecting mates based on their Major histocompatibility Complex (MHC) type; a group of genes directly involved with the animal's immune system. As the common frog is generally thought to mate randomly, ...

New genetic markers for ulcerative colitis identified, researchers report in Nature Genetics

... identified associations between ulcerative colitis and genetic variants in the interleukin 23 receptor (IL23R) gene on chromosome 1p31 and the major histocompatibility complex on chromosome 6p21. "My laboratory is focused on studying the genetic basis for IBD," said Dr. Duerr. "Through genetic mapping, we and our ...

Mate selection more biologically determined in some human populations

... data showing that immunity traits may be involved in mate choice in some human populations. In several species it has been shown that the Major histocompatibility Complex (MHC), a large genomic region involved in immune response, influences mating selections and that this may be mediated by preferences based on ...

A viral cloaking device

... healthy cells, that helps HCMV to move undetected through the body. For 20 years, Bjorkman's lab has been dedicated to understanding class 1 major histocompatibility complex (MHC) proteins and the immune response, most recently related to AIDS research. MHC proteins carry peptides, small pieces that are chopped up ...

New findings on immune system in amphibians

... This release is available in German . Krakow/Halle. Major histocompatibility Complex (MHC) genes produce proteins that are crucial in fighting pathogen assault. Researchers from the Jagiellonian University in Krakow and from ...

Adaptation to parasites drive African fishes along different evolutionary paths

... rather than color. Some of the genes known to influence mating behavior through olfaction in other vertebrate species are genes of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC). These genes code for receptor that bound molecules produced by infectious agents and present them to specialized cells of the immune ...

New study is first to link romantic relationships to genes

... with immune function and partner selection in humans. Vertebrate species and humans are inclined to prefer mates who have dissimilar MHC (major histocompatibility complex) genotypes, rather than similar ones. This preference may help avoid inbreeding between partners, as well as strengthen the immune systems of ...

Early-stage immune system control of HIV may depend on inherited factors

... have suggested that it plays a key role in determining how quickly the disease progresses after initial infection. HLA ?also called major histocompatibility complex (MHC) ?proteins are also the primary markers of tissues as "self." Unique to each individual, these are the factors that need to be matched ...

Researchers create genetically matched embryonic stem cells for transplantation

... used genetic typing to identify those embryonic stem cells that shared with the egg donor the genes responsible for tissue matching, called the major histocompatibility complex (MHC). When they injected these selected embryonic stem cells into MHC-matched mice, a variety of specialized tissues formed, with no ...

International team analyzes human genetic variation in key immune region

... An international group of researchers today unveiled a detailed map of human genetic variation within the major histocompatibility complex (MHC), the most important region of the human genome encoding the human response to infection, autoimmune disease and organ transplantation. ...

Immune cell communication key to hunting viruses, Jefferson immunologists show

... a biosensor out of semiconductor nanoparticles called quantum dots. These served as a unique scaffold to carry presenting proteins (called Major histocompatibility Complex (MHC) proteins) and the attached virus portion, mimicking the clustering of MHC proteins on the surface of target cells. The researchers were ...

Mice lacking key immune component still control chronic viral infections

... St. Louis have found. Scientists can't prove it yet, but they suspect the missing immune system component, a group of molecules known as the Major histocompatibility Complex (MHC) Class Ia, has a previously unrecognized backup that is similar enough to step in and fill the void left by its absence. If so, that ...

U-M scientists identify major psoriasis susceptibility gene

... of PSORS1 as one of 20 'brands' of HLA-C on the shelf," Elder says. Located on human chromosome 6, HLA-C is one of several genes in the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) that regulate how the immune system fights off infection. MHC genes carry DNA-coded instructions for proteins whose job it is to ...

Researchers map of genetic variations implicated in disease

... in PLoS Genetics their detailed maps of differences implicated in disease as well as genes that are unchanged in recent human history. The Major histocompatibility Complex (MHC) consists of hundreds of genes on human chromosome 6 that are important in most autoimmune conditions, when our biological defences turn ...

New tool reveals secrets of migrating cells

... they pass that test, they start wandering around in the cortex looking for the second test, which is to bind precisely to a protein called the major histocompatibility complex (MHC). These cells, the researchers think, are the meanderers. Only about one percent of thymocytes pass both tests, but Witt and Robey think ...

Love at first smell

... perfume had been applied. Smell is important when choosing a partner, not only for humans but also fish. To fight disease, the body's Major histocompatibility Complex (MHC) molecules identify a disease as a foreign invader. Different MHC molecules fight different diseases, so it's important to have a mix of ...

Fox Chase Cancer Center scientists identify immune-system mutation

... Commitment to the helper or killer lineages correlates precisely with the restriction of the T-cell receptor toward either class I or class II major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules. Most helper T cells carry a surface protein called CD4, which is attracted to class II MHC. Killer cells carry the CD8 ...