{"id":17224,"date":"2018-06-29T07:23:54","date_gmt":"2018-06-29T07:23:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wames.org.uk\/cms-english\/?p=17224"},"modified":"2018-06-29T07:26:43","modified_gmt":"2018-06-29T07:26:43","slug":"dr-ron-daviss-big-immune-study-is-looking-at-hla-genes-heres-why","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wames.org.uk\/cms-english\/dr-ron-daviss-big-immune-study-is-looking-at-hla-genes-heres-why\/","title":{"rendered":"Dr Ron Davis\u2019s big immune study is looking at HLA genes – here\u2019s why"},"content":{"rendered":"

ME\/CFS Research review<\/strong> blog post, by Simon McGrath, 28 June 2018: Dr Ron Davis\u2019s big immune study is looking at HLA genes – here\u2019s\u00a0why<\/a><\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n

Dr Ron Davis has won a large NIH (US National Institutes of Health) grant for an\u00a0immunology project\u00a0with a strong focus on HLA genes. Which may have led some to wonder, \u2018What are they?\u2019<\/h3>\n

HLA (human leukocyte antigen) molecules play a critical role in the immune system, particularly by activating T cells. There is a huge amount of variation in the HLA genes that different people have, and Davis\u2019s theory is\u00a0that certain types of HLA genes could increase the risk of ME\/CFS.<\/p>\n

The following explanation of HLA molecules is taken from a\u00a0piece\u00a0I wrote a few years ago.<\/p>\n

The short version<\/strong><\/h3>\n

HLA molecules fire up T cells<\/p>\n

T cells play a key role in the immune system. Like antibodies, the receptors of T cells respond to very specific antigens (foreign proteins), much like a lock matching just one key.<\/p>\n

However, while antibodies will recognise and bind to part of a whole protein, such as the protein coat of a virus, T cell receptors only recognise tiny fragments of proteins. And T cell receptors can\u2019t respond to antigens unless they are presented in just the right way.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s where HLA molecules come in. At a very basic level, HLA molecules act like waiters, serving up the antigen on a plate. More precisely, HLA molecules \u2013 which sit on the cell surface \u2013 have a groove that cradles the small antigen, and the T cell receptor binds to the antigen and HLA molecule together.<\/p>\n

If the T cell receptor recognises the antigen proffered by the HLA molecule (strictly speaking, several different molecules combine to make an HLA complex) then the T cell will snap into action. But without HLA molecules, T cells wouldn\u2019t be able to take action against threats to the body.<\/p>\n

HLA in ME\/CFS and other diseases<\/strong><\/p>\n

We have six different types of HLA molecule that present to T cells, and there are many different versions of each of the six types. Ron Davis at Stanford believes that the\u00a0version of HLA genes you have may influence the risk of getting ME\/CFS<\/a>, and certainly HLA gene variants have been linked to numerous diseases.<\/p>\n

One particular version of an HLA gene increases the risk of narcolepsy by 130 times. A version of\u00a0another HLA gene\u00a0conveys some protection against HIV developing into AIDS \u2013 though the same gene variant increases the risk of the autoimmune disease ankylosing spondylitis. In fact, HLA genes are linked to a number of autoimmune diseases…<\/p>\n

\"\"

A killer T cell in action against a cell infected by a virus. An HLA class I molecule offers up a viral antigen, and a T cell with a matching receptor binds to the HLA molecule and the antigen together. The T cell responds by killing the infected cell.<\/p><\/div>\n

…Back to the Ron Davis study: HLA and disease<\/strong><\/p>\n

There are three types of class I HLA molecules (HLA-A, HLA-B and HLA-C) \u2013 and three important types of class II HLA molecules (HLA-DP, HLA-DQ and HLA-DR). That makes six types, but there are\u00a0huge numbers<\/a>\u00a0of different versions of each type.<\/p>\n

Different versions of HLA are associated with increased risk (or even decreased risk) for certain diseases, particularly autoimmune diseases.<\/p>\n

In 2014 Ron Davis\u00a0reported<\/a>\u00a0that initial HLA profiling of 400 individuals indicated that patients had different versions of the genes that encode the HLA protein from healthy people \u2013 but that they needed to profile more people to confirm this finding. A new study that has just been announced should establish if particular versions of HLA molecules increase the risk of getting ME\/CFS.<\/p>\n

The project starts this month and is expected to complete by 2023. More information about the study at\u00a0Health Rising.<\/a><\/p>\n

Read Simon McGrath’s\u00a0full article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ME\/CFS Research review blog post, by Simon McGrath, 28 June 2018: Dr Ron Davis\u2019s big immune study is looking at HLA genes – here\u2019s\u00a0why Dr Ron Davis has won a large NIH (US National Institutes of Health) grant for an\u00a0immunology … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[4511,4512,500,1920,543],"class_list":["post-17224","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-hla-genes","tag-human-leukocyte-antigen-molecules","tag-immunological-dysfunction","tag-prof-ronald-w-davis","tag-simon-mcgrath"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5qkYK-4tO","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wames.org.uk\/cms-english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17224","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wames.org.uk\/cms-english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wames.org.uk\/cms-english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wames.org.uk\/cms-english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wames.org.uk\/cms-english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17224"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/wames.org.uk\/cms-english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17224\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17285,"href":"https:\/\/wames.org.uk\/cms-english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17224\/revisions\/17285"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wames.org.uk\/cms-english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wames.org.uk\/cms-english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17224"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wames.org.uk\/cms-english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}