MICA, a gene contributing strong susceptibility to ankylosing spondylitis.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

The human major histocompatibility complex class I chain-related gene A (MICA) controls the immune process by balancing activities of  natural killer cells, γδ T cells and αβ CD8 T cells, and immunosuppressive CD4 T cells. MICA is located near HLA-B on chromosome 6. Recent genomewide association studies indicate that genes most strongly linked to ankylosing spondylitis (AS) susceptibility come from the region containing HLA-B and MICA. While HLA-B27 is a well-known risk genetic marker for AS, the potential effect of linkage disequilibrium (LD) shields any associations of genes around HLA-B with AS. The aim of this study was to investigate a novel independent genetic association of MICA to AS.

Methods

We examined 1543 AS patients and 1539 controls from two ethnic po

SUBMITTER: Zhou X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3874076 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature