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Abstract

There are about 5000 species of Passeriformes birds, which are half of the extant ones. Their class I MHC molecules are found to be different from all other studied vertebrates, including other bird species; i.e., amino acid residues 10 and 96 are not the seven canonic residues extant in all other vertebrate molecules. Thus, the canonic residues in MHC class I vertebrate molecules are reduced to five. These differences have physical effects in MHC (Major Histocompatibility Complex) class I alpha chain interaction with beta-2-microglobulin but have yet unknown functional effects. Also, introns show specific Passeriformes distinction both in size and invariance. The studies reviewed in this paper on MHC structure have been done in wild birds that cover most of the world’s passerine habitats. In this context, we are going to expose the most commonly occurring bird diseases with the caveat that MHC and disease linkage pathogenesis is not resolved. In addition, this field is poorly studied in birds; however, common bird diseases like malaria and Marek’s disease are linked to MHC. On the other hand, the main established function of MHC molecules is presenting microbial and other antigens to T cells in order to start immune responses, and they also may modulate the immune system through NK receptors and other receptors (non-classical class I MHC molecules). Also, structural and polymorphic differences between classical class I molecules and non-classical class I molecules are at present not clear, and their definition is blurred. These passerine exceptional MHC class I molecules may influence linkage to diseases, transplantation, and other MHC presentation and self-protection functions. Further studies in more Passeriformes species are ongoing and needed.

Details

1009240
Title
The MHC (Major Histocmpatibility Complex) Exceptional Molecules of Birds and Their Relationship to Diseases
Volume
26
Issue
8
First page
3767
Publication year
2025
Publication date
2025
Publisher
MDPI AG
Place of publication
Basel
Country of publication
Switzerland
ISSN
16616596
e-ISSN
14220067
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
Document type
Journal Article
Publication history
 
 
Online publication date
2025-04-16
Milestone dates
2025-02-24 (Received); 2025-04-08 (Accepted)
Publication history
 
 
   First posting date
16 Apr 2025
ProQuest document ID
3194614187
Document URL
https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/mhc-major-histocmpatibility-complex-exceptional/docview/3194614187/se-2?accountid=208611
Copyright
© 2025 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.
Last updated
2025-07-23
Database
2 databases
  • Coronavirus Research Database
  • ProQuest One Academic