Chapter 26.4, Problem 1MQ

Summary Introduction

A group of cell surface proteins vital for the acquired immune system in order to identify the infectious agents or foreign molecules is termed as major histocompatibility complex (MHC). The major role of MHC molecules in antigen presentation is displaying the peptide fragments for recognition by suitable T-cells. Polymorphism is characterized by a detectable and heritable variation at a locus. Proteins that are encoded by MHC genes are used to present peptide antigens to T cells. The genes of MHC class I and class II are highly polymorphic.