Antibody and MHC genes

: The striking homology relationships, both in sequence and in general organizational features, among the genes encoding antibodies, transplantation antigens and beta 2-microglobulin suggest that these genes are members of a supergene family. It will be interesting to determine whether any of the regulatory strategies displayed by the antibody gene families will also be employed by the MHC gene families. Indeed, the recombinant DNA approach has given us profound insights into the organization and expression of antibody genes. These same techniques are now beginning to unravel the mysteries of the MHC complex. It is clear that the future will require a much closer collaboration between molecular biologists, cellular immunologists, and immunogeneticists to obtain the appropriate reagents and cell lines necessary to expand our understanding of the molecular biology and enzymology of gene expression in these fascinating systems.