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Regulation of MHC class II expression, a unique regulatory system identified by the study of a primary immunodeficiency disease |
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Published in | Tissue antigens. 2006, vol. 67, no. 3, p. 183-197 | |
Abstract | Major histocompatibility complex class II (MHC-II) molecules are of central importance for adaptive immunity. Defective MHC-II expression causes a severe immunodeficiency disease called bare lymphocyte syndrome (BLS). Studies of the molecular defects underlying BLS have been pivotal for characterization of the regulatory system controlling the transcription of MHC-II genes. The precisely controlled pattern of MHC-II gene expression is achieved by a very peculiar and highly specialized molecular machinery that involves the interplay between ubiquitous DNA-binding transcription factors and a highly unusual, tightly regulated, non-DNA-binding coactivator called the MHC class II transactivator (CIITA). CIITA single handedly coordinates practically all aspects of MHC-II gene regulation and has therefore been dubbed the master controller of MHC-II expression. Several of the unusual features of the MHC-II regulatory system may be a consequence of the fact that CIITA originated from an ancient family of cytoplasmic proteins involved in inflammation and innate immunity. The function of CIITA in transcriptional regulation of MHC-II genes could thus be a recent acquisition by an ancestral protein having a role in an unrelated system. | |
Keywords | Animals — Gene Expression Regulation — Genes, MHC Class II — Humans — Immunologic Deficiency Syndromes/ genetics — Models, Immunological — Trans-Activators — Transcription Factors | |
Identifiers | PMID: 16573555 | |
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Citation (ISO format) | KRAWCZYK, Michal, REITH, Walter. Regulation of MHC class II expression, a unique regulatory system identified by the study of a primary immunodeficiency disease. In: Tissue Antigens, 2006, vol. 67, n° 3, p. 183-197. https://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:11084 |