Doxiadis Ilias, Loeffler-Wirth Henry, Lachmann Nils, Lehmann Claudia
Laboratory for Transplantation Immunology, University Hospital Leipzig, Faculty of Medicine Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
Interdisciplinary Centre for Bioinformatics, IZBI, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany.
Transfus Med Hemother. 2024 Apr 22;51(3):152-157. doi: 10.1159/000538447. eCollection 2024 Jun.
HLA epitopes are currently in the focus of transplantation immunogenetics. The main reason is the complexity of the HLA system with >38,000 alleles, the number of which increases steadily. These alleles are determined by the current state-of-the art typing methods like second- and third-generation sequencing. Screening for HLA antibodies is hampered by the lack of specific target beads with all possible alleles described.
A way to circumvent the problem is to define HLA epitopes. The number of antibody-confirmed epitopes, on the other hand, was found to be 72 for HLA class I and 74 for HLA class II. Here, we elaborate on the current knowledge on these HLA epitopes. Absolute definitions of these structures are not yet available.
Making use of eplets is a comparable way allowing statistical analyses. However, one should keep in mind that the results obtained are approximative or perhaps better associative. Continuous collaboration is needed for the full understanding of the HLA epitopes. The reactivity toward epitopes remains patient-specific.
HLA表位目前是移植免疫遗传学的研究重点。主要原因是HLA系统极为复杂，有超过38000个等位基因，且数量还在稳步增加。这些等位基因是通过诸如第二代和第三代测序等当前的先进分型方法确定的。由于缺乏针对所有已描述的可能等位基因的特异性靶珠，HLA抗体的筛选受到阻碍。
解决该问题的一种方法是定义HLA表位。另一方面，经抗体确认的HLA I类表位数量为72个，HLA II类表位数量为74个。在此，我们详细阐述关于这些HLA表位的现有知识。目前尚无这些结构的绝对定义。
利用表位组是一种可进行统计分析的类似方法。然而，应记住所获得的结果是近似的，或者可能只是关联性更好。要全面了解HLA表位，需要持续开展合作。对表位的反应性仍具有个体特异性。
