A new MHC-linked susceptibility locus for primary Sjogren's syndrome: MICA.

ABSTRACT: The association of primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) with Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) alleles is quintessential of MHC-disease associations. Indeed, although disease associations with classical HLA class I and II alleles/haplotypes are amply documented, further dissection is often prevented by the strong linkage disequilibrium across the entire MHC complex. Here we study the association of pSS, not with HLA genes, but with the non-conventional MHC encoded class I gene, MICA (MHC class I chain-related gene A). MICA is selectively expressed within epithelia, and is the major ligand for the activatory receptor, NKG2D, both attributes relevant to pSS' etiology. MICA-pSS association was studied in two independent (French and UK) cohorts representing a total of 959 cases and 1,043 cont

SUBMITTER: Carapito R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6279161 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature