Sequence polymorphism of HLA DRβ1 alleles relating to T-cell-recognized determinants

HLA class II molecules are a highly polymorphic family of dimeric cell-surface proteins primarily involved in regulating T-cell responses to extrinsic antigens. To define regions of class II molecules involved in T-cell recognition, we have now compared sequences of three HLA DRβ cDNA clones obtained from cells that all express the same serologically defined determinants but differ in terms of T-cell-recognized specificities. The comparisons indicate that very few (one to four) nucleotides differ between what are almost certainly alleles of the DRβ1 locus. All differences were in the first domain of the molecule and all localized to a region from amino acids 71-86. Because all differences were found only in this region of the molecule, and because DR α-chains seem to be relatively non-polymorphic¹, these positions in the DR β-chain must have a major role in influencing T-cell recognition of the DR molecule.