HLA-B Antibody

Background:

HLA-B belongs to the HLA class I heavy chain paralogues.This class I molecule is a heterodimer consisting of a heavy chainand a light chain (beta-2 microglobulin). The heavy chain isanchored in the membrane. Class I molecules play a central role inthe immune system by presenting peptides derived from theendoplasmic reticulum lumen. They are expressed in nearly allcells. The heavy chain is approximately 45 kDa and its genecontains 8 exons. Exon 1 encodes the leader peptide, exon 2 and 3encode the alpha1 and alpha2 domains, which both bind the peptide,exon 4 encodes the alpha3 domain, exon 5 encodes the transmembraneregion and exons 6 and 7 encode the cytoplasmic tail. Polymorphismswithin exon 2 and exon 3 are responsible for the peptide bindingspecificity of each class one molecule. Typing for thesepolymorphisms is routinely done for bone marrow and kidneytransplantation. Hundreds of HLA-B alleles have been described.