Variability and exclusion in host and parasite: Epigenetic regulation of Ig and var expression

Shira Fraenkel, Yehudit Bergman*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

The immune system generates highly diverse AgRs of different specificities from a pool of designated genomic loci, each containing large arrays of genes. Ultimately, each B or T cell expresses a receptor of a single type on its surface. Immune evasion by the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum is mediated by the mutually exclusive expression of a single member of the var family of genes, which encodes variant surface Ags. In this review, we discuss the similarities as well as the unique characteristics of the epigenetic mechanisms involved in the establishment of mutually exclusive expression in the immune and parasite systems.

Original languageAmerican English
Pages (from-to)5767-5774
Number of pages8
JournalJournal of Immunology
Volume177
Issue number9
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Nov 2006

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