Figure 1. This paper reports the discovery of MHC-W, which shows characteristics of an intermediate in MHC class diversification. (IMAGE)

Fujita Health University

Figure 1. This paper reports the discovery of MHC-W, which shows characteristics of an intermediate in MHC class diversification.

Caption

While MHC-W possesses alpha and beta genes as in MHC-II, it exhibits interdomain motifs as in MHC-I to which it is phylogenetically close. Regarding the leader (L) and transmembrane and cytoplasmic regions (TM/CY) the nature of the exon shuffling event that created MHC-I is not known yet. The depicted structures are from HLA-A2 (PDB 3PWN) and HLA-DR1 (PDB 1AQD).

Credit

The image was made by J.M. Dijkstra

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