Mhc restriction and Ir genes

There are two kinds of Mhc molecules, prosaically referred to as class I and class II. Mhc in mouse is called “H-2” and is known to consist of at least three class I loci—namely, K, D, and L and four class II loci: A_α, and A_β, the products of which come together in the membrane as A_α,A_β, dimers or the A molecule; and E_α, and E_β, the products of which form the membrane E_αE_β dimers or the E molecule. Mhc can stimulate every conceivable form of immune response: the Mhc molecules easily induce antibody formation, they stimulate T cells in mixed lymphocyte culture as no other membrane molecules do. They are superb targets in cell-mediated lymphocytotoxicity, they initiate violent allograft rejection, and they elicit graft-versus-host reactions, immunological tolerance, delayed-type hypersensitivity reactions, and other responses. Furthermore, the chapter illustrates the reason for the H-2 molecules being such good antigens in so many immunological assays.