Neutralizing Antibody Responses to Viral Infections Are Linked to the Non-classical MHC Class II Gene H2-Ob.

ABSTRACT: Select humans and animals control persistent viral infections via adaptive immune responses that include production of neutralizing antibodies. The precise genetic basis for the control remains enigmatic. Here, we report positional cloning of the gene responsible for production of retrovirus-neutralizing antibodies in mice of the I/LnJ strain. It encodes the beta subunit of the non-classical major histocompatibility complex class II (MHC-II)-like molecule H2-O, a negative regulator of antigen presentation. The recessive and functionally null I/LnJ H2-Ob allele supported the production of virus-neutralizing antibodies independently of the classical MHC haplotype. Subsequent bioinformatics and functional analyses of the human H2-Ob homolog, HLA-DOB, revealed both loss- and gain-of-function a

SUBMITTER: Denzin LK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5568092 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature