Cellular Recognition of Major Histocompatibility Complex Antigens

Abstract

Antigens coded for by genes of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) have been studied primarily with regard to their relationship to transplantation immunity. The central dogmas that arose from investigations in mouse, man, and other species carried out over a period of decades were that two or three loci of the MHC code for cell-surface antigens present on essentially all cells of the body, and that these antigens both initiate the immune response leading to graft rejection and serve as targets for the effector lymphocytes. We shall refer to the antigens of these loci, which are detectable by serological techniques, as the S-determinant or SD antigens (Klein 1975; Bach et al. 1976a; Bach and van Rood 1976).