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Clinical Microbiology Reviews, April 2009, p. 370-385, Vol. 22, No. 2
0893-8512/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/CMR.00048-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

HLA and Infectious Diseases {dagger}

Jenefer M. Blackwell,1,2* Sarra E. Jamieson,1 and David Burgner3 Author Bios

Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, Centre for Child Health Research, The University of Western Australia, West Perth, Western Australia, Australia,1 Cambridge Institute for Medical Research, University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine, Wellcome Trust/MRC Building, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Hills Road, Cambridge CB2 0XY, United Kingdom,2 School of Paediatrics and Child Health, University of Western Australia, Princess Margaret Hospital for Children, GPO Box D184, Perth, Western Australia 6840, Australia3

Summary: Following their discovery in the early 1970s, classical human leukocyte antigen (HLA) loci have been the prototypical candidates for genetic susceptibility to infectious disease. Indeed, the original hypothesis for the extreme variability observed at HLA loci (H-2 in mice) was the major selective pressure from infectious diseases. Now that both the human genome and the molecular basis of innate and acquired immunity are understood in greater detail, do the classical HLA loci still stand out as major genes that determine susceptibility to infectious disease? This review looks afresh at the evidence supporting a role for classical HLA loci in susceptibility to infectious disease, examines the limitations of data reported to date, and discusses current advances in methodology and technology that will potentially lead to greater understanding of their role in infectious diseases in the future.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, P.O. Box 855, West Perth, Western Australia, Australia 6872. Phone: 61 8 94897910. Fax: 61 8 9489 7700. E-mail: jmb37{at}cam.ac.uk

{dagger} Supplemental material for this article is available at http://cmr.asm.org/.

Clinical Microbiology Reviews, April 2009, p. 370-385, Vol. 22, No. 2
0893-8512/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/CMR.00048-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





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