Characterization, evolution, and molecular basis of a polymorphic antigenic determinant shared by HLA-A and B products.

In our search for monoclonal antibodies defining specific HLA-A,B antigens we have found a significant number of antibodies with polymorphic reactions that are not explicable with our current picture of HLA-A,B interrelationships. Analysis of one antibody (MB40.1) in some detail shows that it recognizes subsets of both A and B antigens and that it is able to split highly cross-reactive pairs of A or B antigens. These results address an outstanding difference in the serological interpretation of H-2, where these types of public reactions have been well established, from HLA, where they have been poorly characterized. Comparison of these types of serological reactions with amino acid sequence data and the apparent evolutionary stability of these broad cross-reacting determinants suggests a simple model for the molecular nature based upon limited amino acid variability and convergent evolution.