| Literature DB >> 18976921 |
Mary Carrington1, Maureen P Martin, Jeroen van Bergen.
Abstract
Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I loci are essential to an effective immune response against a wide variety of pathogenic microorganisms, and they represent the prototypes for genetic polymorphism that are sustained through balancing selection. The functional significance of HLA class I variation is better exemplified by studies involving HIV type 1 (HIV-1) than any other infectious organism. HLA class I molecules are essential to the acquired immune response, but they are also important in innate immunity as ligands for the killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIR), which modulate natural killer cell activity. Here we concentrate on the interaction between the HLA-B and KIR3DL1/KIR3DS1 genes, describe the effects of these loci on HIV disease, and discuss questions that remain unresolved.Entities:
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Year: 2008 PMID: 18976921 PMCID: PMC3463869 DOI: 10.1016/j.tim.2008.09.002
Source DB: PubMed Journal: Trends Microbiol ISSN: 0966-842X Impact factor: 17.079