Cancer Immune Therapy Edited by G. Stuhler and P. Walden ...

5
Major Histocompatibility Complex Modulation and Loss
Barbara Seliger and Ulrike Ritz
5.1
The Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) Antigen-Processing
and -Presentation Pathways
The MHC encodes a number of molecules of immunological significance, in particular
in the development of immune responses [1], including the MHC class Iand II
antigens, and different components of the antigen-processing pathway such as the
peptide transporter, some proteasomal subunits and the chaperone tapasin. All these
genes are localized in the MHC locus on chromosome 6 (Fig. 5.1). The classical
Fig. 5.1 The MHC locus. The human MHC
comprises of the class II region, the class III
region and a class I region. The MHC class I and
II regions are shown approximately to scale. The
MHC class II region is extremely well character-
Cancer Immune Therapie: Current and Future Strategies
Edited by G. Stuhler and P. Walden
Copyright # 2002 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA
ISBNs: 3-527-30441-X (Hardback); 3-527-60079-5
(Electronic)
ized, and contains components of the MHC
class I APM, including TAP1, TAP2, LMP2 and
LMP7 as well as tapasin [142, 143]. In contrast,
the precise position of many genes in the MHC
class I region is as yet unknown.
59