Word: hla
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...Michigan's Dr. Gary Nabel, the researchers treated five patients with melanoma, a deadly skin cancer. The tumors were injected with the gene HLA-B7, which produces a protein that can help the immune system fight the cancer. In all five patients, the genes safely entered the tumor cells and began making protein, and in one case the tumors shrank. The technique is no miracle cure, but the experiment adds a promising new weapon to the arsenal of genetic medicine...
...HLA test, a kind of tissue matching used to decide who will probably accept a kidney transplant most successfully, is less accurate for blacks than for whites. The result: blacks receive only 22% of donated kidneys (not counting transplants from relatives) though they make up 31% of patients waiting for such an operation...
...healthy survivors may lead a genetically charmed life. Each of the body's cells possesses an identical inherited molecular trait, dubbed its HLA type, that allows an individual to distinguish friend from microscopic foe. Some people's HLA types are more common than others. Heredity specialists have already identified a few genetic types that appear to increase a person's chance of developing AIDS after infection. Now they are trying to determine if long-term survivors hold any inherited molecular configurations in common that could be responsible for their ability to resist...
...just what makes for a good tissue match. Research dating from the 1960s shows that the immune system has developed its own set of molecular passwords, called human leukocyte antigens, that identify every nerve, every capillary, every organ as either friend or foe. If a cell displays the right HLA molecules on its surface, the T cells will leave it alone. If not, it gets zapped...
Snell's and Dausset's discoveries have led to better matching of donor organs with recipients. Further, since the HLA molecules give everyone except identical twins a unique biochemical profile, HLA "typing" has become a major tool in forensic medicine. It has helped identify rapists through semen stains, and in one paternity case it showed that a pair of fraternal twins were sired by different fathers. Researchers have found that certain HLA groupings are associated with particular diseases, including multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis. Through HLA typing, it may one day be possible to tell an individual what...