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Presents evidence from three sets of backcross mice for concordance between V beta 11 deletion ligand genes on chromosomes 6, 12 and 14 and endogenous mouse mammary tumour virus integrant (Mtv) genomes. Results indicate that the V beta 11 deletion ligands are products of Mtv genomes.

Describes the evidence from which the existence of non-major histocompatibility complex (MHC) histocompatibility antigens was deduced the clinical setting of bone marrow transplantation. Peptide epitopes, MHC restriction molecules and the genes encoding of the human and murine minor H antigens; Immunomodulation using minor H peptides.

Lectins are ubiquitous proteins involved in the immune defenses of different organisms and mainly responsible for non-self-recognition and agglutination reactions. This work describes molecular and biological characterization of a rhamnose-binding lectin (RBL) from Rhodnius prolixus , which possesses a 21 amino acid signal peptide and a mature protein of 34.6 kDa. The in-silico analysis of the primary and secondary structures of RpLec revealed a lectin domain fully conserved among previous insects studied. The three-dimensional homology model of RpLec was similar to other RBL-lectins. Docking predictions with the monosaccharides showed rhamnose and galactose-binding sites comparable to Latrophilin-1 and N -Acetylgalactosamine-binding in a different site. The effects of RpLec gene silencing on levels of infecting Trypanosoma cruzi Dm 28c and intestinal bacterial populations in the R. prolixus midgut were studied by injecting RpLec dsRNA into the R. prolixus hemocoel. Whereas T. cruzi numbers remained unchanged compared with the controls, numbers of bacteria increased significantly. The silencing also induced the up regulation of the R. prolixus defC (defensin) expression gene. These results with RpLec reveal the potential importance of this little studied molecule in the insect vector immune response and homeostasis of the gut bacterial microbiota. • RpLec has Carbohydrate Recognition Domains of Rhamnose Binding Lectins (RBL-CRD). • RpLec also shows binding sites for Gal and GalNAc. • Dipteran and Hemipteran RBL-CDRs are in different branches of a similarity tree. • Silencing RpLec affects levels of gut defensin and bacteria, but not T. cruzi. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]