Biochemistry And Biology Of Ia Antigens

The Antigens, Volume VII is a comprehensive treatise covering all aspects of antigens, including their chemistry and biology as well as their immunologic role and expression. Different aspects of the genetic control of the immune response are explored, along with the link between infection and autoimmunity. Comprised of four chapters, this volume begins with a discussion on the determinant-specific genetic regulation of the immune response and the genes that control it. The next chapter deals with the molecular genetics and polymorphism of of class II (Ia) antigens, as well as the correlation between immunogenetic and molecular genetic maps. The antigen-specific T cell clones and the specific factors derived from them are then examined. The last chapter considers the relationship between infection and autoimmunity; the role of infection in the expression of class II antigens; and processes responsible for the induction of autoimmune diseases. A specific therapy for these diseases is described. This monograph will be of interest to practitioners and researchers in immunology, experimental and clinical medicine, biochemistry, and other disciplines.

This volume deals with the structure and function of molecules that have, during the last decade, turned out to have a central role in immune responses. Trans plantation antigens were discovered and characterized by Gorer about 50 years ago, and the biological basis for the unequalled complexity of their variability between individuals within a species, in spite of extreme conservation between species, was the subject of intense research and discussion for many years. During the days of belief in "immune surveillance" against spontaneously developing tumors, it was suggested that histoincompatibility between members of one species would prevent cancer from being a contagious disease and thus a threat to the species. Immunologists involved in human transplantation had to learn and care about the complexity, especially after 1967, when it was found that HLA antigens were the products of the human MHC. Rejection of HLA-identical sib kidney grafts was so rare, even in those days, that cases of rejection were described in scientific papers.

The Mouse in Biomedical Research, Volume I: History, Genetics, and Wild Mice focuses on the utility of the mouse as a laboratory animal in biomedical research. A historical perspective on the development and origins of the laboratory and wild mouse is given. The diversity of inbred strains of mice as well as the methods of developing and the genetic monitoring and testing of these strains are discussed. This volume consists of 14 chapters and begins with an overview of mice of the genus Mus and problems concerning evolution within the genus. The following chapters focus on taxonomy, nomenclature, and breeding systems, together with recombinant inbred and congenic resistant mouse strains. Methods of constructing, testing, and monitoring strains are described. Congenic strains, gene mapping, cytogenetics, and murine experimental studies are also considered, along with the histocompatibility-2 complex and radiation genetics. The final chapter is devoted to the pharmacogenetics of the laboratory mouse, paying particular attention to intoxication and detoxication pathways, genetically determined differences in xenobiotic metabolism, and pharmacogenetic polymorphisms. This book will be a useful reference for investigators using mice in many areas of research.