| Project/Area Number |
09044247
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for international Scientific Research
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | Joint Research |
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| Research Field |
Immunology
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| Research Institution | Hokkaido University |
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Principal Investigator |
KASAHARA Masanori Hokkaido University School of Medicine, Department of Biochemistry, Associate Professor, 医学部, 助教授 (30241318)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
KAUFMAN James Institute for Animal Helth, Head, 部長
PASQUIER Louis Du Basel Institute for Immunology, Pearmanent Member, 永世研究員
FLAJNIK Martin University of Maryland School of Medicine, Department of Microbiology and Immuno, 教授
DU Pasquier バーゼル免疫学研究所(スイス), 永世研究員
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| Project Period (FY) |
1997
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| Project Status |
Completed (Fiscal Year 1997)
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| Budget Amount *help |
¥3,800,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,800,000)
Fiscal Year 1997: ¥3,800,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,800,000)
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| Keywords | Major histocompatibility complex / Evolution / Self-nonself discrimination system / Chromosome duplication |
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| Research Abstract |
The exquisite self-nonself discrimination system, as we see now in man and mouse, was built over evolutionary time. Therefore, to truly understand the biological significance of the system, it is insufficient to study only humans and mice. The aim of the present work was, thus, to study the structure, function, and origin of the vertebrate self-nonself discrimination system employing a wide variety of animals ranging from mammals to fish. The head investigator found that the genome of mammals such as humans and mice contains the regions paralogous to the major histocompatibility complex (MHC). These regions and the MHC region appear to have diverged as a result of chromosomal duplication involving the ancestors of the antigen processing genes such as LMP (low molecular mass polypeptide) and TAP (transporter associated with antigen processing). Phylogenetic analysis showed that the chromosomal duplications probably took place early in vertebrate evolution, in a common ancestor of jawed vertebrates. Dr.Flajnik found that the LMP and TAP genes are located more closely to MHC class I than to class II genes in the amphibian Xenopus laevis. This is in contrast to the fact that these genes reside in the class II region of the mammalian MHC,and suggests that the Xenopus type gene organization is a primordial one. Dr.Du Pasquier found that the Xenopus CIX gene coding for the Ig superfamily member expressed specifically in cortical thymocytes is linked to the MHC.Dr.Kaufman established a cosmid contig map covering the entire chicken MHC.
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