Abstract
Major histocompatibility complex (MHC) variation is a key determinant of susceptibility and resistance to a large number of infectious, autoimmune and other diseases. Identification of the MHC variants conferring susceptibility to disease is problematic, due to high levels of variation and linkage disequilibrium. Recent cataloguing and analysis of variation over the complete MHC has facilitated localization of susceptibility loci for autoimmune diseases, and provided insight into the MHC's evolution. This review considers how the unusual genetic characteristics of the MHC impact on strategies to identify variants causing, or contributing to, disease phenotypes. It also considers the MHC in relation to novel mechanisms influencing gene function and regulation, such as epistasis, epigenetics and microRNAs. These developments, along with recent technological advances, shed light on genetic association in complex disease.
Highlights
The classical major histocompatibility complex (MHC) spans ~4 Mb and comprises over 160 protein-coding genes
The analysis provided informative tag single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that capture much of the common variation in the region to facilitate efficient fine-mapping of MHC-associated disease
The MHC provides a prototype for the genetic footprints created by clusters of genes that are individually under balancing selection and whose products functionally interact
Summary
Major histocompatibility complex (MHC) variation is a key determinant of susceptibility and resistance to a large number of infectious, autoimmune and other diseases. Recent cataloguing and analysis of variation over the complete MHC has facilitated localization of susceptibility loci for autoimmune diseases, and provided insight into the MHC’s evolution. This review considers how the unusual genetic characteristics of the MHC impact on strategies to identify variants causing, or contributing to, disease phenotypes. It considers the MHC in relation to novel mechanisms influencing gene function and regulation, such as epistasis, epigenetics and microRNAs. It considers the MHC in relation to novel mechanisms influencing gene function and regulation, such as epistasis, epigenetics and microRNAs These developments, along with recent technological advances, shed light on genetic association in complex disease
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