Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karol. univ. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karol. inst. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Michigan, 1965.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Michigan, 1965.

Thesis (M.S. in oral sciences)--University of Illinois at Chicago, 1998. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S. in oral sciences)--University of Illinois at Chicago, 1998. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

Melanogrammus aeglefinus, commonly known as haddock, is a commercially important marine fish species closely related to cod. Preliminary investigations into the immune function of this species has revealed several unique and interesting features, including an unusually high number of expressed alleles of Major Histocompatibility (MH) Class I genes. The goal of this project was to examine the sequences of alleles, including the untranslated regions, for potential regulatory mechanisms which may limit the number of alleles expressed to the point of functional molecules. Using a cDNA library from an individual haddock, a total of 22 unique alleles were isolated and sequenced, and three putative mechanisms for limiting expression were revealed. The first mechanism was the inversion of the open reading frame within the transcript. The second mechanism was the linking of the MH Class I transcript with the transcript of another gene. The third mechanism was non-classical substitutions at the nine amino acid residues involved in peptide anchoring. These three mechanisms represent novel ways of limiting expression and effectively reduced the number of alleles which could be expressed into functional classical MH Class I molecules.

Melanogrammus aeglefinus, commonly known as haddock, is a commercially important marine fish species closely related to cod. Preliminary investigations into the immune function of this species has revealed several unique and interesting features, including an unusually high number of expressed alleles of Major Histocompatibility (MH) Class I genes. The goal of this project was to examine the sequences of alleles, including the untranslated regions, for potential regulatory mechanisms which may limit the number of alleles expressed to the point of functional molecules. Using a cDNA library from an individual haddock, a total of 22 unique alleles were isolated and sequenced, and three putative mechanisms for limiting expression were revealed. The first mechanism was the inversion of the open reading frame within the transcript. The second mechanism was the linking of the MH Class I transcript with the transcript of another gene. The third mechanism was non-classical substitutions at the nine amino acid residues involved in peptide anchoring. These three mechanisms represent novel ways of limiting expression and effectively reduced the number of alleles which could be expressed into functional classical MH Class I molecules.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karol. inst., 2001. / Härtill 5 uppsatser.

In combating variable pathogens, mammalian immune systems have evolved diverse families of ligands and receptors. Epitomizing this strategy are the polymorphic major histocompatibility complex class I genes (termed HLA class I in humans) that encode ligands for highly variable natural killer (NK) cell receptors (in humans, the killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptors or KIR). Technological advances are poised to allow sequencing of these polymorphic genes, the most variable in the human genome, at the highest possible accuracy and resolution. However, studies that correlate immunogenetic polymorphisms with functional changes are in their infancy and often limited to those variants that combine high ligand avidity and high frequency in Caucasians. As a result, there is a paucity of information regarding the true scope of functional human immunogenetic diversity. This not only restricts our understanding of the evolution and function of the human immune system, but also underserves non-Caucasian populations with respect to disease association studies and therapeutic advances. The work presented in this thesis details original research and methodological advances that begin to address these functional shortfalls, the goal being to improve our understanding of the relationship between immunogenetic diversity, protein structure and immune function.